Brooklyn's first Mighty Tike Triathalon

Bright and early this morning, 7:30 am, we headed down to Spring Hill so Brooklyn could participate in the 2nd annual Mighty Tike Triathalon. She was so excited. As daddy was putting her in the car she says, in all seriousness, "I'm gonna fall down, scrap my knees and it's gonna hurt". Daddy said, "Well if you do, you just get up and get back on the bike and keep going". We got to the Rec Center and all these little kids were there riding their bikes. It was so cute to see about 100 3-6 year olds warming up. Brooklyn was hesitant to start warming up and riding her bike because she didn't want to hit anyone. We convinced her to start riding and she was getting the hang of it, until all of a sudden her bike tipped over and down she went. Brian ran over to her to make sure she was ok. She was fine, but she did scrape her knee. I was such a proud mama, because then, just like daddy had told her, she got back up on her bike and started riding again. We had to wait about 20 minutes for her heat to start, but then they lined up and got ready to go.

And they were off. Down the track they went. She got to ride with her cousins. (Maiya, in the orange helmet and Sammie, in the red helmet). She was slow getting started but then she got the confidence she needed to speed up. They went around the track twice, on the second lap she saw daddy cheering her on and said, "Daddy I am getting sweaty". She kept on going and finished the second lap and then came the transition to the running part of the race. She had to run through hoops and over and under hurdles. (I don't have a picture of the running portion because I was video taping too.) Then came the swim portion. Which as you can see from the pictures, they had to run through the sprinklers. She got soaking wet, but she loved it. The lifeguard in the background makes it all the more classic.

She crossed the finish line and received a medal. We took a picture with all 3 of them and Brooklyn was raising her hands. I didn't get it until Brian told me that she sees people raising their hands after a big race. (She likes to watch marathon's and triathlons on t.v. with daddy). They had lots of snacks for the kids when they were done, just like they do after a race for the big people. It was great. They had so much fun. After the race we took them to Donut Palace to get a post race donut. A good time was had by all. Good job #83. We are so proud of you.
Sydney didn't get to participate because she was only 2. Next year Siddo.

A trip to the eye doctor

Today we had Brooklyn's yearly check up at the eye doctor. I told Brooklyn we had to go and she just started crying. She did not want to go. She was holding on to the banister on the stairs and just saying no mommy it will hurt. I tried to explain to her that it wouldn't hurt and that the doctor just wanted to look at her eyes. All she had to do was look at letters and pictures. She wasn't buying it. She cried all the way there and didn't want to go in when we got to the door. It took her about 10 minutes to finally calm down and cooperate. She finally started to lighten up and actually enjoy it. She kept asking the dr. what all the instruments were for and how they worked.

The doctor said her eyes were healthy, but she did have an astigmatism in her right eye and she was farsighted in her left eye. She would probably have to get reading glasses when she entered first grade. I think she is secretly wanting glasses. I am sure she will be thrilled.

Tuesday's Tip (Label maker)

Today's tip is keeping a well organized pantry. I have found that if you do so you will save time and money. One of my favorite things to help me keep organized is my P-Touch label maker. This is about the only thing Martha Stewart and I have in common. If you don't have one, you need to invest in one. They are not very expensive at all and they will help you in your pursuit to be organized. The other thing that I love is see through containers. I am not a fan of cardboard boxes. You can ask my hubby. We've moved twice and the first thing I do is unpack everything so I don't have boxes all over the house. They are usually unpacked within a few days. I love clear plastic containers, especially in a pantry, because you can see what is in them and you can tell when things are running low. Cereal for example, is great in containers. Otherwise if you have them in the boxes you have to open the box to see how much is left, or just wait for your child or hubby to say, "Mom we need more cereal".

Now let me say I am blessed to have a big walk in pantry. I know not everyone has a big pantry. I think it's all the more vital to be organized with a smaller pantry. We had a very small pantry at our old house and hardly any cabinet space. I had to make good use of every square inch. So it can be done with a small pantry.

I also keep my chips, crackers and breads in different small bins. That way all the like items stay together and I can see what I am running low on and what I actually have. Otherwise they would be all over the bottom shelf and I'd have to sort through to find what I am looking for. We have all of our recycling at the bottom. As you can see I need to make a run to the recycling center.
The other thing I do in my pantry is make zones. It's hard to tell from the picture, but I have little laminated white cards on the shelves. They read, candy & nuts, baking, canned goods, oil & spices, pasta, etc. You can really make yours whatever you'd like. This also helps the hubby know where to put stuff when unloading the grocery bags. :)

I have some storage on the other side as well. A place for grocery bags, which I recycle and reuse, plastic wrap and aluminum foil and my aprons. Use every inch of your space. Go high and use the back of the door if you have to. There are so many cool organizing tools out there for you to get started. It doesn't have to cost a fortune either. If you are fortunate to live near an IKEA, they have very inexpensive containers. Also check the Dollar Tree or Walmart. It might cost you a little money up front, but it will save you money in the long haul.
I hope this has been helpful. If you live near me and would like some help and suggestions I would love to help you. In case you are wondering, I have always loved to clean and organize. I think I get it from my mom. She's super organized. My first guinea pig was my best friend Christa who lived down the street. I was in 6th grade at the time and I basically kicked her out of her room to make it over. I spent all morning cleaning and organizing her room and when she came back she loved the results. Thus my love for organization was birthed way back then.

All Grown Up

The other day, Brooklyn and I went for a mommy daughter date. This is something I like to do with the girls. I love my one on one time with each of them. We went to one of my favorite places to shop, Target. I needed to get her some new panties so we headed for the girls section. It's weird to walk into the girls section and not the baby section that I am so accustomed to. We walked over and she started laughing and saying, "boobies". She saw all the little bras hanging up and she just thought that was the funniest thing. She said, "Mommy can I get the polka dotted one?" I just smiled and said, "Honey you have a few more years to wait". I kid Brian that I am gonna make him take her shopping for her first bra. He was mortified. I think the thought of his little girl growing up and needing an over the shoulder boulder holder as I called them, was about enough to make him faint. I couldn't resist taking a picture to remember this moment. One day I will embarrass her and show it to her boyfriend.

A Glimpse From Heaven

Yesterday I took the girls to the mall with my mom, Stacy and her girls. We let the girls play on the playground and then we went up to the food court to eat some Chick-fil-a. Daddy met us there because he had to do some work stuff at the computer store there so he ate lunch with us. The girls finished up and I let them get out of their seats. I continued to sit with Brian and chat and then I happened to look over at the girls and they were holding hands with a little girl. They were playing ring around the roses. It was so cute. At first I thought, do they know this girl, maybe from school or church? Then I realized they didn't. She was a complete stranger. My girls are outgoing, but they’ve never just gone up to a little girl before that they didn’t know and hold hands with her. I was fine with it. Her mom was right there and she didn’t seem to mind either. The little girl looked to be a little older than Brooklyn, probably 5 or so. She was a darling little girl with long blonde hair, which she wore in a ponytail, and she had bright blue eyes. It was so cute to watch them play. Then the mom called her daughter over. She said, “Zoe come over here honey and eat”. What did she just call her? I couldn’t believe it. At that very moment my eyes started to well up with tears. I knew that God gave me a glimpse of what life here on earth would’ve been like with our precious Zoe. He knew I needed to see what it would have looked like for my girls to play with their big sister. It was not by chance her name was Zoe, or that my girls took to this complete stranger with such ease. This was a divine appointment from God. One I didn’t ask for, but one that the Lord knew I needed at that very moment. It will be 5 years in October that we lost our sweet baby. Some days I can’t believe it’s been that long and other times it feels like yesterday. I love you and miss you everyday my sweet baby girl. Thank you Jesus for giving me a glimpse from Heaven.

"Tuesday's Tip" (Good Fats)

I apologize for not posting last Tuesday. It was a long week and I just didn't have time to blog. I hate that. I have so much I need to write about, but with my computer down, I have to use Brian's Mac and I am just a PC girl.

I've been into food lately. Nothing new really, I LOVE to eat, but lately though I have been thinking and learning about the foods that go into my body. I've checked out some books from the library and bought a couple from Borders and when I get a free second I read. I ran across a list in one of my health magazines that I thought was really helpful. I cut it out and stuck it on my fridge.

So here is my tip for today. You should try to eat "good" fat with every meal. This helps you lose weight and get rid of belly fat. It also makes you feel fuller longer so you eat less. The following foods are also heart healthy. The idea would be to have one of these on the list with every meal.

Raw Almonds- 1 ounce (23 nuts)

Chopped Walnuts- 1/4 cup

Avocado- 1/4 California avocado

Olive Oil- 1 Tablespoon

Smooth Peanut Butter- 1 Tablespoon

Green or Black Olives- 8 jumbo

Unsalted Sunflower Seeds- 1/4 cup

Some other things to think about when buying some of these products. First let's take peanut butter. I prefer almond butter because it has been found to have more healthy properties than peanut butter and is a good source of boron, which is great in maintaining bone and joint health by making the enzymes stronger. With all the allergies kids can have to peanut butter, I started keeping Almond Butter in the fridge when Brooklyn was little and we all love it. Either one you decide to use make sure it is all natural. No Jiff or Skippy. :) Costco sells a huge jar of Maranatha Almond Butter for $7. You can't beat that price.

With Olive Oil you want to make sure you use Extra Virgin Olive Oil that says Cold Pressed on it. I have just come to learn why. When it says Cold Pressed it means it was extracted using no heat or chemicals. This is really important to get the most benefits out of the oil. Another tip you might not know is that you should not cook with Olive oil. Strange I know because if you watch the Food Network you will see them do it all the time. When you heat Olive Oil almost all the healthy benefits are destroyed. It can also cause chemicals to be released into your food. The best thing to cook with is a little water in the pan or organic butter. I use just a small amount of organic butter when I cook.

I will share more later about my journey to better health in later blogs, but I hope you have found this post helpful to you. I have been reminded lately that our bodies truly are a temple. I am blessed to be alive and I want to do my best to live the life that God intended me to live. I have found that hard to do when I am feeling tired and sick. Something I read the other day really stuck with me. It was talking about how when we pray before a meal we ask God to bless our food we are about to eat. It went on to say, "We believe God is going to come down and miraculously remove the physical toxins from the food we are about to consume or cancel out the effects of those toxins on our bodies". Hello. So true. Why do I believe I can fill my body with junk and think that the Lord will keep me from getting sick? It was a "ah ha" moment for me. I have to ask myself daily before I eat, is this something that will work for me or against me. If it will work against me than it's just not worth it. It's a battle and one that I am determined to win for me and my family.

"Tuesday's Tip" (Vitamins)

Today I thought I'd share with you my tips on keeping my kids as healthy as they can be. First and foremost I pray a lot, but secondly I believe it's the supplements that I give them on a daily basis. I don't give the girls the flu shot, much to the dismay of their pediatrician. I have my reasons and beliefs on that, but figure I will save that for another blog sometime. I truly believe that if I can build their immune systems up strong enough that their bodies can fight off the germs that are out there. The girls go to school twice a week, church twice a week and the gym daycare about 3 times a week so they are definitely around other kids. Don't get me wrong, they do get their occasional cold, but nothing that I have to take them to the doctors for. It's kind of nice just to see their doctor for their annual checkup.

So here is what they take on a daily basis. I give them Juice Plus as their daily vitamin. This has all the fruits and vegetables that their bodies need. There is no corn syrup or any junk in it, just the good stuff. You can order juice plus online or find someone who is local that can order for you. I have to be careful that I don't leave them laying out because the whole jar would be gone. Sydney will sometimes cry because she wants more and I have to tell her I am only allowed to give her 3 green (veggies) and 3 red (fruits). Next up is Vitamin D. I would tell you that if you could only add one supplement to your child's daily routine it should be this one. There is a reason God put this in sunshine. The problem is that we can't come close to what our bodies need especially in the winter time. Think about that for a minute. Is there a correlation between cold and flu season being in the winter instead of in the summer? My belief is yes. There is less flu in the summer because we are exposed to so much vitamin D through the sun. The brand I love is Carlson. It comes in a 2,000 IU gel and as you can see they are about the size of a pea. When my girls could swallow food, they were taking these. Brooklyn loves to chew hers up. You can also hide them in yogurt or applesauce. They go right down. During the summer I give them 1(2,000 IU's) gel. During the winter I give them 2 (4,000 IU's) and if I think they are getting sick I give them 3 (6,000 IU's). The great thing about Vitamin D is that you cannot overdose on it, so it's completely safe. In fact the FDA this year upped the dosage from 400 IU's for kids to 1,000 IU's. Experts now say that lack of Vitamin D may cause heart disease, cancer, diabetes, MS and a host of other diseases.

Next on the list is a good pro biotic. I give the girls 1 tsp. everyday in their sippy cup of milk. They can't taste it and the benefits are terrific. This is definitely a must if your child is on an antibiotic. Antibiotic wipe the good bacteria out of your system so it needs to be replaced. I like the girls to have this daily because it helps keep their digestive system strong and working properly so they can again fight off the bad bacteria that comes their way. Fish oil is also one of the best things you can give your child. It is brain and heart food. I took it when I was pregnant and as soon as the girls could take a bottle they were getting fish oil once a day. It's great for skin problems as well. They have it in gummies, but for some reason my kids won't take it that way. They spit it out. It would be so much easier if they did, because the liquid is smelly and is harder to clean out of their cups. I'm hoping one day they will like it in that form. The last on the list is Aloe Vera juice. I like this brand because it is tasteless. I put a little each day in their apple juice and they can't taste it. This is great for their digestive system and also another great immune system builder. I also noticed it worked great for Sydney's eczema.

I buy all of my vitamins, except for Juice Plus and the fish oil, at The Vitamin Shoppe. I love that store. The sales people are extremely knowledgeable and if you buy something and don't like it you can take it back for store credit.

One more thing when picking a vitamin. You want to stay away from tablet form if at all possible. Tablets are filled with glues and binders because it's the only thing that will keep them together. I always look for a capsule. When I was pregnant, I wouldn't take the prescription vitamins my OB recommended because they were in tablet form. I found a brand made by TwinLab called PreNatal Care that I love because it's in a capsule. The next time you go to the store look at how many vitamins are in tablet form. You will be amazed. I will get off my soap box now. In case you are wondering, Brian and I take all the same things that the girls do, just tweeked a little bit for our needs. I know there is alot and I hope it's not too overwhelming. Please feel free to email me with any questions you might have. As you can tell, I love this kind of stuff and I love my precious girls, so anytime I can learn about how I can keep them healthy I jump on it.

P.S. I do not sell or get paid to endorse any of these products. I am just a fan. Also, you may want to consult your child's physician before starting any of these supplements. Felt like I had to put that in there. :)

"Tuesday's Tip" (Storage)

I love to clean. Well, I used to before I had kids because I could do it a couple of days a week and be done. Now I have to clean daily and sometimes I feel like most days that's all I do. I know so many of you can relate. I told my mom I was looking for a mini dustpan and she said she had one I could have. She wasn't using it. She found this one at Walmart. (Thanks Mom!) I use it only for cleaning the counter tops and table. It never touches the floor. I have another one for that. It works great for getting all the messy crumbs off the counter. It's just easier than using a paper towel and trying to catch the mess in your hands. When I do that it seems like it falls on the floor and then I have another mess to clean up.

This next tip is one of my favorites. Once again I am recycling. I try to do that as often as I can. I have a bunch of these around the house (thanks to my parents who drop them off when they are done eating their snacks) and one day I got the idea of transferring my unused paint into these containers instead of keeping it in their original metal ones. I like to do "touch ups" from time to time when I can. I will never understand why kids feel the need to color on the walls. Can someone explain that one to me please? My walls look like we've lived here for 10 years and it hasn't even been 2 yet. I digress. Anyway, this is great because you can see the color through the container and you just unscrew the lid, dip your brush in and screw the lid right back on. No messing with the screwdriver to help you pop open the lid of the can and then hammering it back on when you are done. This is air tight so it keeps the paint from drying out. I keep mine in a cupboard in the garage so sunlight can't damage the paint. That reminds me that I have about 6 paint cans that I need to transfer into containers. Guess I should go do that now.

Our first date

I was going to write about our trip to the aquarium this past Friday, but then I noticed the date July 8th and remembered this date has significant meaning to me. 9 years ago today, Brian and I had our very first date. We had briefly met back in 1999 when he served me and my sisters lunch. No he wasn't our waiter, per se, he had a job working at The William Morris Agency here in Nashville. He was an assistant at the time and the agency had us in for a lunch to talk with us about signing on as our booking agents (my sisters and I were in Christian Music for 6 years). I remembered Brian walking in with some food and thinking to myself, oh he's pretty cute. That was really it. I think I told one of my sisters afterward, but then forgot about it after that. My family was getting ready to move from California, where I grew up, to Nashville because our first album was getting ready to be released. So that year was a busy one for us. We were on the road constantly and didn't have time for much of anything, let alone dating. One day I was walking into Schlotzsky's Deli with a friend when I saw a guy walking out and he stopped me. He said, "Excuse me are you one of The Darins?" I said, "Yes I am. I am Krista". I'm thinking, ok how does this dude know me? I had only been in Nashville about 6 months at the time so I didn't know how I would have known him. He said, "My name is Brian Lord and I used to work at The William Morris Agency". Oh now I remembered who he was. I said, "Oh good to see you". He said we should get together sometime and he gave me his business card. He had just gotten a new job and was proud to hand me one of his new cards. I really didn't think anything of it and filed the card away somewhere in my room. Well about 3 months past and I was cleaning and ran across his card. I took it out and thought, I should email him. I think I was desperate to make some friends and I thought to my self if nothing else I could have a new friend. We emailed each other back and forth and decided to set up a group date to go hang out. He said he would get some guys and I would get some girls. Ok that's fine, but I really didn't know anyone in town. What was I thinking? We plan a date and to our surprise no one shows up. So it's just the 2 of us. Something even more crazy is that we learned that we lived in the same apt. complex and had never ran into one another. I lived with my roommate Jennifer, but my sisters all lived together in the building right next to his and they never saw him either.

So here we are, Saturday July 8, 2000 and we are on our way to our first date. Now remember it was supposed to be a group date so it was definitely more fun in nature, than romantic. We headed to OpryMills where we dined on some yummy Cajun food from the food court. :) Then we walked to Jillian's (which is now Dave & Buster's) and we decided to play a game of bowling. Here's where it gets interesting. We are both very competitive by nature. I certainly didn't want him taking it "easy" on me. I will say now that bowling is not my game, but I put up a good fight. About half way through the game, I bowled a strike. I was so excited. As I was walking back we decided to high five each other, which was fine, except for when Brian's hand was coming back down he smacked me across the butt. I was embarrassed, he was too. I knew it was an accident. Brian is a perfect gentlemen and would have never done it on purpose. I pretended like it was no big deal. We still laugh about it to this day. After bowling we went to play Laser Tag. Did I mention this was a fun date? By this time it's late but we're both having fun and enjoying each other's company that I didn't really care. He beat me at Laser Tag too. No surprise there. I had never played before. I always tell him, let me get you on the soccer field and it's game on. I will destroy him.

So that is how we met and the happenings of our first date. We were engaged the day before Thanksgiving that year. If you are doing the calculations, I will save you the headache. We dated for 4 months before we got engaged and were married 4 1/2 months later on April 7, 2001. It's one of the best decisions I have ever made and I am so glad I married my amazing husband. I love you babe more than anything. You are my rock and I am proud to be your wife.

Tuesday's Tip (Glass Jars)

I decided to start doing a "Tip of the day" on Tuesday's. Some of these tips will be ones I have come up with and some will be ones that others have given me. This tip I came up with when I decided to stop storing my food in plastic containers. From everything I have read plastic is not a great option and never heat anything up in the microwave in plastic. There are toxins that are released from the plastic that get into your food. Yuck! Anyway, I buy Del Monte peaches in bulk at Costco (4 to a pack for $7.99) and they come in glass jars. I thought why not reuse those jars to keep my fruits and veggies in. The other great thing about this is that everything is prewashed and cut and all I have to do is get the jar out of the refrigerator and eat. It makes it handy that I can see through the jar and know when it's time to buy more. Cleaning them is simple. I just put the jar in the dishwasher and I'm done. I think I've accumulated about 15 jars.

The original jar of peaches you can see on the left. Then I have olives, grapes, strawberries and carrots. You can really put so much in these jars and you are recycling at the same time. I love it.
Another thing I stumbled across this week has to do with raisins. The girls love raisins. They like them in the little boxes. Well that gets expensive to buy them in the little boxes instead of the big container, so I bought a big container and a package of little boxes and as the girls finish their raisins out of the little boxes, I refill them with those from the big container. Just another way to recycle and save money.

If you have a tip that you would like to share please email me. I would love to hear it.