Fudge Jumbles

(photo to be added later)

1 C Butter + 2 T(added to the fudge)

2 Eggs

1 tsp Vanilla

2 ½ C Flour

1 tsp Baking Soda

1 tsp Salt + ½ tsp(added to the fudge)

3 C Oatmeal (quick oats or old fashion)

1 15oz can Sweetened Condensed Milk

1 12oz bag of Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips 

Preheat the oven  350°.  Lightly spray a jelly roll pan or a 13×9 pan.

Cream 1 C butter with sugar.  Add eggs & vanilla. Mix in flour, baking soda & 1 tsp salt & oatmeal.  Blend thoroughly & into a jelly roll or a 13×9 pan, reserving 1 C of the mixture for the topping. 

In a microwave safe Bowl combine the sweetened condensed milk, chocolate chips, 2T of butter and ½  tsp of salt.  Heat for 1 minute, stir and repeat until the fudge mixture is melted.  Poor fudge mixture over the crust and sprinkle with reserved crumbs. Bake for 25-30 minutes – until crumbs and edges are golden brown.

Lifestyle Change!

October 1, 2018 was my first day of exercising every day.   As of today, it has been 190 days in a row.   I have been celebrating one day at a time.  Today, I realized it has been six months!

I started with the plan to run or walk 2 miles every day.  Once that was established and it felt like a normal every day habit (and it got to be boring) I increased my goal to exercise for at least 30 minutes/day.  It is recommended that we exercise for 30 minutes for at least 5 days a week.

Some days, it has been very easy to exercise and some days not so easy.  I am not a morning person and have always hated the idea of an early morning or late night exercising activity.  I have gotten up at 5am to exercise twice, multiple times I have started my exercising by 6/6:30am and at least three times I have exercised after 9:30pm.

I have learned to be more flexible, prepared, to plan ahead, watch the weather and to go out of my comfort zone.  The most difficult and still challenging thing I deal with is making time for me to exercise.  I struggle in my motherhood journey with putting everyone in my life before myself.  I struggle with depression and as I get older I see high cholesterol and diabetes knocking on my door.  I have less time to do active things with my kids and find myself spending more and more time spectating sporting events, being the cook, housekeeper, taxi and referee.

My inspirations:

My parents and Jack’s parents.

My kids.

My 30-year-old sisters.

My goals:

Continue to exercise every day.

Every year, do a birthday ride or run.  Riding my bike or running  the miles of how old I am.  For my 50th birthday I will run 50 miles!

Be healthier than my parents.

Continue to be physically capable of doing active things with my sisters, who are 18 years younger than me.

Be healthier in my older years for my kids.  I will be 60 years old when Nola Mae goes to college!

To have the physical ability to travel and do active things with my grandkids well into my 70’s, like my mother-in-law.

Be a positive role model to my children.

Inspire others to have a healthy lifestyle.

 

“One Day Closer”

Credit: Ben McMillan

17 in 2017

In the tie dye world there are facebook pages exploding with amazing collections of people’s best dye projects in 2017. 

Here are my top 17 dye projects for 2017.

 

Top sewing projects for 2017:

 

My favorite things, 46 yeas old.

My favorite things, 46 yeas old:

Chocolate

Caramel Cashew Custard from Kopp’s Frozen Custard

Beer

Coffee

Making applesauce

Picking berries

Cross Country Skiing

 

Running

Biking

Tie Dyeing

Fall and Winter

Watching my kids play sports (and playing with them).

  

My favorite place, Iola Winter Sport Club

 

A few people inspire and motivate me:

Inspiration vs. Motivation:  Jillian Micheals made me realized these are two different things.  I can be inspired by people and their activities but it is motivation that gets me outside exercising and being active.

• My cousin, Libby, who is adventurous and taught me that I don’t need to pay registration fees to do fun things/events.  Here is an article she wrote about her running adventures:  http://trailrunnermag.com/people/adventure/2192-a-triple-crown-of-trail-running?cmp=1.  Libby inspires me to think outside the box and to be independent and adventurous.  My level of adventure only measures up to a quarter of what she does.

I am motivated by my triplet sisters who are 18 years younger than me.  All three of them are active and do fun things.  I want to be able to keep up with them in their adventures and do fun things with them.  Wait, maybe not keep up at their speed, maybe just do fun things with them.

• My sister, Danna, who is frugal like me.  I wrote a blog about our half marathon:  https://skiingmama.wordpress.com/2016/06/28/the-frugal-sisters-half-marathon/

• My sister, Kayla, is fit and a fast runner.

• My sister, Becca, is an Ironman (TWO TIMES!).

 

Most importantly, my kids motivate me.  I want to be thinner so I look awesome, but that isn’t what gets my butt going.  My motivator is my kids.   I want to be able to ski, run, bike, hike, play soccer, bowl, and play with them for many years.   I am one of those “older moms” and I am NOT getting any younger.  I will be 60 years old when my last child goes off to college.

Robbie is now a faster skier and runner than me.  I thought I would be  faster than him for a little longer.  Oh well, I think I could out last him in a long distance ski race or running race, right now.  But not for long.

   

 

To celebrate my 46th birthday I decided to do 46 miles. I wanted it to be a birthday triathlon, inspired by Becca’s Ironman.  I have this awesome road bike.

     

 Arrived at Sunset Lake for a swim.  It was so refreshing.

 

 Final miles when I arrived home 48.5 miles in less than four hours.

I decided not to run because I got my 46 miles done and  I needed to have energy to finish the day as the mom of the house (making dinner, driving for cross-country practice and to Point for soccer practice).

I picked raspberries while I waited for the bus to drop off the kids and then had one of my favorite snacks, fresh raspberries with rice pudding.

My adventures aren’t over with, in November I will participate in Rails to Trails Marathon with my whole family.  This winter I hope to ski more days than I did last year and possibly complete at least one ski marathon.

I would love to hear what motivates you.

What adventures do you have planned for the next year?

What birthday activity will you do for your next birthday?

Happy Birthday, Charlie Boy!

Charlie’s favorites, age 11

Happy Birthday!

favorite color –  Neon yellow, then I like blue and green.

favorite animal – dog

favorite book – Diary of a Wimpy Kid

favorite movie – Scorch Trials 1 or Yogi Bear

favorite song –  “Firework” and “Fight Song”

favorite sport – basketball

favorite food – pizza

favorite breakfast – bacon

favorite snack – cherry slush from Shivers

favorite drink – kiddie cocktail

favorite restaurant – Pizza Ranch

favorite toy – scooter

favorite friends – Brock, Gavin, Weston & Hunter

favorite thing to do – snowboard

favorite thing to do outside – downhill skiing

favorite thing about school – seeing friends

favorite job – taking groceries to the basement pantry

least favorite job – folding clothes

favorite thing to do with Papa – go snowboarding

favorite thing to do with Mama – going to rummage sales and talking

favorite thing to do with Nola Mae – build forts

favorite thing to do with Henry – bowl

favorite thing to do with Robbie – sports, sometimes we bowl, play soccer, &  basketball

favorite holiday – Christmas

favorite place to go – Uncle Eddie’s house

Where do you want to go on vacation?  –  XtremeAir

What do you want to do when you get older? – gym teacher

If you could have any super power what would it be? –  to be able to fly

 

Here are more of my favorite pictures of Charlie:

 

 

The Frugal Sisters’ Half Marathon

I got this sister (one of many) who is very smart, busy, fun to hang out with, and active.  Both of us want to be fit, strong and runners.  We are too cheap to be motivated by an organized race such as a marathon or half marathon.  Our goal for early summer was to run a half marathon, on our own schedule, in our own chosen location, without a ton of people,  and no race fees!

We picked a date – June 4th.  The forecast was calling for high humidity, 80+ degrees and 80%  chance of scattered thunderstorms, so we changed the date to June 5th.  The date was beautiful with a light breeze, with temps in the mid-70s, sunny, and 0% chance of rain.

I was the host for our half marathon.  I picked the location – The Green Circle Trail in Stevens Point, WI.

 

Our last-minute plans included inviting our mom to bike along with us and a picnic lunch at the finish, we each brought food and snacks to share.

Inviting our mom to the day worked out fabulous, she carried our water and snacks and took photos.  I wouldn’t have these awesome photos to share if it wasn’t for her!

The route we ran:

We started at Roger’s Park on the Plover River Trail -3.6 miles, crushed granite trail.
Follows the meandering Plover River through woods near the airport.

 

Moses Creek Trail – 2.3 miles, crushed granite trail and boardwalks.
Travels through wet woodlands, sedge meadows, and forested areas for great wildlife viewing.

University Trail – 2.6 miles, crushed granite trail and boardwalks in Reserve, paved road.
Trail through Schmeeckle Reserve, a 280-acre nature reserve on the UW-Stevens Point campus.  Woods, prairie, wetlands, and oak savanna.

Brickyard Trail – 1.1 miles, crushed granite trail and sidewalks.
Adjacent to a historic brickyard, this wooded trail winds past frog ponds and a creek.

Stagecoach Trail – 2.2 miles, paved roads with shoulders.
Follows Old Wausau Road, a historic stagecoach line. Stunning vistas of the Wisconsin River.

Riverfront Trail – 1.3 miles, asphalt paved trail.
Popular trail near historic downtown Stevens Point. Views of the Wisconsin River and waterfowl. Travels through Bukolt and Pfiffner Pioneer Parks.

 

I love race bling.  I have been know to do a race for a cool medal, so I thought we needed a cool medal for this one.   Jack and I made the medals for our race.

 

 

Kombucha Lover

I love Kombucha. I know a couple kids that love kombucha. I know a couple of kids that should drink kombucha, but don’t. They don’t know what they are missing!

I am too cheap to buy this stuff in the store.  I had heard about it and did some research.  So when a friend that I respect encouraged me and offered me starter tea and a SCOBY, I jumped on it.

I know a certain sweet girl who loves this stuff and could drink it all day long! The deal is that we have a small glass  after lunch. Today, I realized I am on my last bottle.  I have a sweet boy who likes to sneak some, the reason for my low supply.  I needed to work on the next step and needed a helper.

First we tasted the tea before adding the fruit. This is when I take a small teaspoon and taste a tiny bit to know if it is ready for the flavoring step. It is usually yucky tasting to me. (That is why I add fruit.)

My little helper tasted it and loved it. She is one tough cookie!

She added raspberries.

 

She smashed blueberries and then added them. (If the skin of the blueberry isn’t broken before adding to the tea they don’t give any flavor to the tea)

Nola Mae was more interested in eating frozen blueberries.

Then we let it sit. Taste testing in two days.

 

We like fizz, so we bottle ours in swing top bottles.

 

Drinking…

 

The recipe I follow:

http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-kombucha-tea-at-home-cooking-lessons-from-the-kitchn-173858

An article with the history of Kombucha, benefits and recipe:

http://healthandbeautylifestyle.com/kombucha-tea-of-immortality-recipe/

Nola Mae – 4 years old!

Happy Birthday, Nola Mae!

 

Nola Mae is special to us for  many reasons…

She is named after my Grandma Nola.

 

She is smart and a great problem solver.  (She didn’t have a bag along, so she stored her notebook in her hat.)

She will be able to  say that she has skied every year of her life, as long as she doesn’t move away from our winter wonderland.

1st year on skis

2nd year on skis

3rd year on skis (this was on her 3rd birthday)

4th year on skis

She is very flexible (she loves to eat snow while skiing).

I uploaded my video on youtube of Nola Mae going down a fairly steep hill:  https://youtu.be/m05E79MrrFY

She has three older brothers who adore her.

She loves being outside.

 

 

She loves her babies.

  

She loves to help others and do jobs.

Because she has no sisters, she has a special friend who she adores and often plays “sisters” with.

 

My favorite blog post I wrote about Nola Mae is “With No Mom”:  https://skiingmama.wordpress.com/2015/10/23/with-no-mom/

She hasn’t changed much in many of the areas of her personality since her last birthday post:

https://skiingmama.wordpress.com/2015/04/08/nola-mae-3-years-old/

Henry’s Birthday – 7 years old

 Henry’s birthday is tomorrow or today depending on when I finish this and post it.  I have struggled with my blog for a few months now.  I don’t make time to post or have anything pressing to blog about.  Well, I do, but I don’t make the time to do it.

So, I sit here with a blank screen and don’t know what to write.    I started rambling on and on and a couple of hours later, this is what I have to say.  (Edit:  one of my ramblings was starting Henry’s birth story.  Wow, I  don’t want to write about that now.  I will save that for another time!)

 

What can I say about my sweet Henry?

Some days he is not so sweet.

Some days he is not so nice to Nola Mae and some days he is unbelievably the most awesome big brother any sister could ask for.

Some days he can be rotten.

Some days he can be the most kind and loving little boy.

Some days he can have closed ears and is unwilling to do the jobs he is expected to do.

Some days he can be willing to help with every  job  on his list and extra.

Some days he is funny and cute.

A story from this past fall:

I sent an email to Henry’s teacher and his math teacher…”I wanted to share this story with the two of you.  I am not sure which teacher Henry was talking about when he was telling my mom (Granny) about why the teachers were at school and he wasn’t on the professional development day.

Granny and Henry were talking about why he had off school that day and he said the teachers still had to go.  Granny said it was probably one of those days where the teachers learn new things to help them be better teachers.  He told her his math teacher had to go to learn math because she didn’t know what 200 + 200 was.  Henry said, ‘She asked the class and I knew, it’s 400, but she didn’t know so she has to go learn math’.

One more story that will make you giggle:   Henry told me, ‘Mrs. Honken doesn’t have enough apples to make apple pie for the field trip next week, she needs one more apple! Can I pick the biggest apple off our Big Apple Tree?’   I can’t express how excited Henry is for the up coming field trip to your apple orchard (His teacher has a huge apple orchard!).  So excited that he doesn’t believe me that you probably have enough apples to make many apple pies!

Here is her response…”Oh Jenny, he’s so precious!!! His giant apple caused me to totally redo my writing lesson plans for the day…we are going to practice descriptive writing about the giant apple. It has to go in the hall (along with the picture you sent!!). Thanks.”

Some days he can be thoughtful.

Recently, Henry was on a roll talking about nurses.  Henry’s facts about nurses:

“Nurses love kids.
People who love to make kids feel better go to school to be a nurse.
Nurses love to take care of kids that is why they want to be a nurse.
Nurses are kind to everyone.

I wish I was a grown up and could be a nurse, so I could take care of Granny.  Maybe even be the one to help her with her surgery, like her doctor.  I could be like Aunt Karen and take care of Granny.”

This week my cousin, Andrew, emailed me and mentioned in his email that Henry has a very high EQ (emotional intelligence quotient).  I appreciate his insight and kind words because when my patience is low from the wildness, the chaos of our life and the naughtiness.   I need to remember the kind, loving, respectful and wonderful boys we have.  And let the handsome eyes and beautiful smiles melt my heart.

My sweet Henry has given me lots of stories to write about.  In all his sweetness he isn’t giving me many heart attacks anymore.  One of my favorites:

Heart-Attack-Henry – https://skiingmama.wordpress.com/2011/07/26/heart-attack-henry/

Okay,  I have more than one:  https://skiingmama.wordpress.com/2013/08/28/my-empty-nest/

If you want to check out Henry’s past birthday blog posts:

Henry’s Favorites – Age 5

Henry – 6 years old!

A Successful Ski Day!

A Successful Ski Day!

Today Henry, Nola Mae and I hit the cross-country ski trails at Iola Winter Sports Club for the first time this winter.

When we started out I was thinking it was going to be the worst day of skiing.

Then I reminded myself of a few facts:

• We are on the trails for the first time this winter,
• I am trying to ski with a 3.5 year old and a 6.5 year old,
• It is normal for a 3.5 year old child to flop on the ground screaming after  only 10 minutes on skis,
• I ski with kids to teach them a life sport,
• We just had a snack and it is almost lunch time,
• It could be nap time for Nola Mae,
• It is 24 degrees and the wind feels cold, and
• Once I get Nola Mae in the sled I can actually get my workout in, so BE PATIENT!

 

Not far on skis for the first time before the body flopping began.

Things started looking better:

with a little bribe of a snack once she got into the sled,

a boy who wanted to do all the black trails,

a boy insisting on going down Nose Dive.  My kind of boy!

A napping girl!

A bit of sunshine on the trails!

A real workout!

Henry and I skied on the blue and black trails for an hour.

We went in the chalet for lunch and ended the day with Nola Mae skiing almost one mile, giggling on the downhills and she was loving it.   I had to beg her to go home.

Unfortunately, I didn’t have the camera with me for our second time out.  There is always tomorrow!