Kanin Turns 10

Even though this is about a month late, I still can't believe that my Kanin Bomb is 10 years old!!  Where did the last 10 years go??

In the past we have had all kinds of birthday parties but this year Kanin really just wanted a couple of friends to go to "Pizza Street, Orange Leaf, stay the night and do boy stuff"  so that is what we did!

Even though he is in 4th grade this was Kanin's first friend sleepover so he was very excited.

The day began, of course, with our annual birthday picture.

Because I didn't want to put pics of his friends on here, we will just skip to the family party.  Needless to say, I had a house full of loud, rowdy boys that ended up going to sleep sometime between 1:00-3:00am.  haha

Next, we had a family party for Kanin.  We just had our family over to our house for some hearty appetizers, cakes, and ice cream

For some reason, Nerf guns were high on his list this year.

Kanin doesn't really like birthday cake so we ended up just getting a couple of different kinds of cakes and put some candles on one of them.

We were so thankful to be able to have Kanin's friends over, as well as, our family. 

Tag Team Throwdown

When I started at CrossFit O'Fallon back in July 2011, it never entered my mind that I would someday enter in to a CrossFit competition.  In fact, I didn't even know that CF competitions, throwdowns, Garage Games, or CrossFit Games even existed.  I had never heard of any of them.

Over the past 17 months, though, I have grown to love CrossFit and it has become a part of my life that I don't even question anymore.  It's not something that I do, it is something that I am . . .as corny as that might sound.

When my CF coach, Josh, mentioned that he was going to be hosting a Tag Team competition back in September, the thought actually entered my mind, "That might be fun to try." Even back then I had no lofty ideas of winning, placing, or even finishing in the top 10 or 20.  I just thought it would be fun to compete and to be around other people who love this stuff as much as I do.  I ended up pairing up with an awesome firecracker, Jesse, and we set out to go in and do the best that we could do.

Fast forward until the day before Thanksgiving, 1 1/2 weeks before the competition, and I ended up falling down my stairs at home.  In this fall, I re-injured an old tailbone fracture and it caused my lower back muscles to really contract and inflame.  I was so upset not only for myself but also because I had a partner who was depending on me.  For the past week I have taken more Ibuprofen than I have in my entire life, stayed off my feet, sat on a donut, and kept going back to my chiropractor, Dr. Matt.  We made the decision on Wednesday that I could compete, knowing that I wouldn't be 100%, but at least there was no danger of hurting myself any farther.  It would be painful but I could make it through.

So, that's exactly what I did.  I must say that I am paying the price for it today but the experience was amazing.  It was so inspiring to see so many people giving it everything they had in them.  People of all shapes, sizes who, just like me, had no expectations of winning but just wanted to be a part of it. 

The Tag Team Throwdown was held at the St. Louis Rams Training facility.

My partner, Jesse, is awesome!  Our team name was "Meet Me at the Bar"  (you can order shirts from my friend, Rob, HERE)

The day consisted of 3 WODs (Workout of the Day).  The first was strictly strength and the last two were strength and cardio combined.  I'm not going to lie, it was hard especially since I hadn't worked out in a week and a half.  We had such a great time, though.

WOD 1

12 Minutes for 1 partner to establish a 1 rep max snatch and 1 partner to establish a 1 rep max clean and jerk

WOD 2

13 Minutes to complete the following:

-Partner 1 rows 800 meters

-100 35lbs kettle bell swings to be divided up any way you want, does not have to be 50/50 per partner

-100 over-the-boxes (20 inches) to be divided up any way you want.  While one partner works, the other partner holds the 35lb kettle bell.  If the KB touches the ground, the team will be assessed a 5 burpee penalty.

-Partner 2 rows 800 meters

WOD 3

15 minutes to complete the following:

Teams can break up the work any way they choose.

-50 115lb dead lift, 20 pull-ups, 15 over-the-bar burpees

-50 85lb power snatches, 20 pull-ups, 15 over-the-bar burpees

-50 65lb snatches, 20 pull-ups, 15 over-the bar burpees

Here are some pics of me snatching.  I ended up snatching 80lbs, no new PR but still glad to have it that.

Jesse hit a new PR with a 115lb clean and jerk!  (sorry for the blurriness)

Jesse rowing out that 800 meters.

35lbs kettle bell swings

Over the box

 

Because of the whole tailbone issue, I was "dying" on the 800 meter row.  I just closed my eyes and tried to get through it.  Oh, how I wished that I could have taped my donut to that seat.

Overall, I'm happy with how we did.  We ended up finishing 27 out 42 scaled teams.  I would have loved to have made it in to the top 20 but there were a lot of strong women's teams and by the third WOD, I was in serious pain.

I will definitely compete in another competition.  Of course, I want to do better. . . isn't that the point?    I can't say enough, though, about the sense of community in CrossFit.  Even though we were in competition with each other, if you weren't busy with the WOD then you were cheering on other teams.  It is one of the strangest but yet best aspects of this CrossFit world . . .yes, I want to beat you but I also want you to do the best that you possibly can do. 

Now . . .on to more Ibuprofen, a hot bath, and rest!

Another Year in the Books-Cardinals 2013

Well, what can I say? We made it to the World Series but just didn't win. To be honest, the Red Sox were the better team.  They out-hit and out-scored us and that is that.

Yes, I was very upset during the actual games when there were silly, silly mistakes or when we just could not get a hit or when everyone Cardinal fan knew they should be walking David Ortiz and we didn't . . .but, when put into perspective, we made it to the World Series and I can't really complain.  We just won the Series in 2006 and then in 2011, how can I complain?

Even though we didn't win, some things never change about my love affair with the St. Louis Cardinals.

I always love going with this guy . . .(notice the way we are dressed for the NLCS, Game 2 on November 12)

This is NLCS Game 6 on November 18.  Stupid St. Louis Weather!


I also always love when they bring out the pride of St. Louis, the Budweiser Clydesdales.  It NEVER gets old!

I also love being able to experience the post season with family and friends.

In the end, I am proud of the Cardinals.  It stinks that we didn't win but our future is bright.  We are a young team with lots of post seasons in our future.  As many of us discussed during the playoffs, we are very spoiled in St. Louis.  It is almost just assumed that we WILL make it to the post season.  We I often forget that it isn't an automatic thing.

This pretty much sums it up for me (Click HERE for a video from the Cardinals) and I am already counting down the days until March 31, Opening Day!

Fall Parties

Today was a fun and hectic day.  This year I have two kids with Fall Parties.  Luckily, their parties were at two different times so I was able to go for both parties.

Kanin's party was first.  I wondered how he would act this way being a big 4th grader and if he would want Mommy at his party and hanging around but my sweet boy surprised me and really wanted me to be by him the entire time.  Of course, I ate it up!

We played lots of games . . .first he carried eggs in a relay race . . .

then he tried to stack dice on an ice cream stick . .

I loved when we placed an Oreo on his forehead and he had to try to get it down into his mouth.  This game was so much fun and I loved watching all of the kids try it.  Surprisingly, several kids got really, really close! . . .

Kanin had a partner in which they had to lock arms and run down and back . . .

the last game was the potato sack race.  I loved this only because it brought back my own memories from doing this as a little kid.  I'm glad that he was able to experience it, too.

In the afternoon I moved over to Gracie's party.  I was really excited as this was her very first school party.  She was so excited and hopped right out of bed this morning, a rarity in our house.  I also loved that she was so excited to see me.

One of the families in Gracie's room has this neat little putting green and they brought it for games to her party.  What a great idea.  The kids loved it and Gracie was so excited to sink the ball a couple of times.

 I love her so much!  It was so cute that a couple of the kids kept telling me that I look just like Gracie.  LOL

We made these bug crafts.  It was so cute.

It was a great day.  I am so happy and blessed that I was able to go to the kids' school today.  I made memories and I hope they did, too.

Halloween 2013

There is no way that Halloween has already come and gone. Where, oh where, has 2013 gone? I feel like I ask that question every year!

Here in St. Louis, my kiddos were so worried all day that they were not going to be able to Trick or Treat because it was cold and rainy.  Luckily, right around dusk the rain cleared out a bit and we were left with a couple hours of just mist and wind.

All 3 kids were really in to their costumes this year.  This is the first year that Caleb actually understood what Halloween is about (the candy, of course!) so he kept up with the big kids all night.

My niece and nephew came over again this year.  I was really afraid that Ali would think that she is "too old" to Trick or Treat this year (she's 14)  but she informed us last night that she is going to Trick or Treat until she is 17.  We all told her that she could Trick or Treat forever as long as she still dresses up. 
 

I love this bunch of monsters:  GracieAnn (6), Aidan (10), Alison (14), Caleb (4), Kanin (9)