Win a FREE Piggies and Paws Print!

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So, if you’ve never heard of Piggies and Paws, you may be asking yourself, WHAT is Piggies and Paws??? It’s a little hard to describe (and unfortunately, I’m not able to use photos of the actual artwork) but basically it’s custom made artwork using your child’s handprint or footprint. We’ve all done cute little crafty things with our kids handprints, but there is definitely a difference between what I can pull off, and what can be done with Piggies and Paws.

My friend, Cheryl, is an independent artist here in Utah and we’ve had a number of prints done by her. We have two in our house, and we loved them so much that we got four more to send to grandparents and uncles and aunts. They’re unique and personal and made perfect gifts. Everyone loved them.

So to get an idea for what you’re getting – go to the Piggies and Paws website. There’s a few pictures on the homepage there, but when you have one of these done, there are TONS of designs to choose from. Seriously. You will have a really hard time picking out what you want!

I also want to mention that you can host a “party” with Piggies and Paws and Cheryl will come to you (within a reasonable distance) to do the handprints of your children and your friend’s children. Hostesses who book in the months of September or October will get your final prints mounted for free. (This might work great at a playgroup get together!) OR – if you don’t want to host your own party, then come to Cheryl’s Open House on Saturday, September 19th from 10am – 1pm or on Friday, October 9th from 5pm – 8pm and you’ll be able to see all the designs that are available.

SO if you would like to win a FREE Piggies and Paws print – here’s what you gotta do:

• Mandatory Entry: Leave a comment on this post. **Make sure you use a valid email address when you leave your comment – this will be the method I use to contact you should you win. (Value: 1 entry)

For more entries you can do the following (For each, leave a comment here telling me what you did)

• Become a fan of the Piggies and Paws Facebook page (Value: 2 entries)
• Follow me on Twitter (Value: 1 entry)
• Book a Piggies and Paws Party with Cheryl (Value: 10 entries!!!)

Contact Cheryl for more information, RSVP for her Open House (and get directions since I won’t be posting her address here), or book a Piggies and Paws party: chodsdon@piggiesandpaws.com

Contest ends September 9th at 10pm MST. There is no purchase necessary to enter the contest. I will be using random.org to choose the winner. I’ll contact the winner via email, and he/she will have 48 hours to respond. After 48 hours, another winner will be chosen. If the winner is unable to receive the prize (ie. You live too far away) another winner will be chosen.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER: The free Piggies and Paws print is only valid for prints created by Cheryl. If you live outside of an hour from Sandy, UT you may need to cover travel expenses to have Cheryl come to you. Or you can make the trip to Cheryl during her Open House. There are Piggies and Paws artists all over the country – so if Cheryl is too far from you, feel free to check out the website to find another closer to you. You will not be able to use your free print prize with other artists, but you can still get some cute prints from them!

Running Equipment

Managed to get two runs in this week, so I’m slowly working back up to where I was before I got sick. Earlier this week, I hopped on the treadmill and ran a mile right away without stopping again. I couldn’t do it again after that, only a half or 3/4’s of a mile – but I was really happy that I hadn’t completely gotten out of shape in the week+ I took off for being sick. Yesterday I wanted to run again, but I really didn’t want to go back to the gym. I missed being able to run outside, and my silly issue of not being able to get a drink while running was seriously bugging me. So I ran out and made yet another exercise purchase. Here’s what I’ve gotten to date:

Polar F7 Heart Rate Monitor
This has been instrumental in my being able to understand exactly how many calories I’m burning when I’m working out and how my body is reacting to the exercise. I can see when my heart rate is going too high and I need to pull back a bit, and I can see when it’s gone too low and I need to step it up a bit. My major complaint with it is that I’ve not been able to get it to work in the water. No matter how tight I make the chest band, no matter what I do. It thinks I’m dead in the water and gives me a heart rate of 0. Heh. Otherwise, love it.

iPod/iPhone Armband Holder
Obviously this is very handy. I keep my iphone in it, even though it has the plastic shield, it still registers when I use the touch screen.

Chain Timer iPhone App
When I’m doing my “Run 3 mins / Walk 2 mins” rotations, this app is invaluable! You can set custom chained timers and then it buzzes or plays a sound to let you know when to switch. I play my music in the background and then run this app.

Altec Lansing Backbeat Bluetooth Headset
Originally, I had been using the wired headphones with my iPhone, but the wires bouncing around while I ran really annoyed me. If I had a call come in, I’d have to disconnect everything to take the call. And of course the volume controls were on the phone itself, so to raise or lower the volume meant again, fumbling with the phone. With this headset, all these controls are on the headset itself, and no annoying wire. Take a call, change the volume, pause music play even, all with an easy click on the headset. It also will filter the ambient sound when you have the music paused, so you don’t have to take the headphones out in order to hear when people are talking to you.

And now my most recent purchase:
a Water Bottle Belt
This has been a major issue for me running outside. I can’t run for more than 5 minutes before I need to rehydrate. Not wanting to carry a bottle around in my hand, I hadn’t been bringing any water with me, which would usually lead to me feeling sick at the end of the run. This belt is really comfortable, I actually push it around and wear it on my back. It has a little pouch too so I can put keys etc. in there. I bought this last night and then ran out of the house to try it out. Very happy with it.

I also bought a Camelbak Water Bottle Sara had recommended. Worked ok. I was going to use it with the straw – but it almost immediately fell off inside. Tried to get it to stay – wouldn’t. Not sure if that’s a problem with these bottles in general, or just mine. But I did like the bottle anyway. 😀

(Isn’t it ironic that with all my exercise/running purchases, I still haven’t gotten a fancy pair of running shoes? LOL! The ones I’m using I got from Costco – they were cheap but they seem pretty good.)

I once made an abstract painting and titled it “The Universe is Expanding”

... because I can’t think of anything more abstract than the fact that the universe is expanding – and the fact that even though it’s expanding – it doesn’t have any boundaries. How can something that can’t be measured get bigger?

My father sent me another link to make my brain explode: Where is the center of the universe. And if the question alone doesn’t make your head spin, then the answer surely will (as do most answers relating to anything about the universe) – at least for me anyway. The answer is of course, there is no center.

(Although at least one of my kids might dispute this theory and insist that, no, there is in fact a center… and if you’re looking at them, then you’re looking right at it)

Being my own cheering section

I think I’m not alone in this, but so often I wonder if I’m doing an ok job with my kids. I guess by the mere fact that it’s a constant concern for me is a good sign. I’m always being critical of myself, always trying to do better… of course the flip side to this is that I’m always being critical of myself… meaning I rarely feel like I’ve succeeded. That’s probably just part of the job of being a parent – you don’t see the final result of your work until you see what kind of adults your kids end up being. And even then it’s not really a final result – because I know I’ve continued to learn and grow even as an adult. But at that point, your work is kind of done. You can’t go back in time and fix mistakes. Not that you’re supposed to be a perfect parent. In fact, I think if your kids see you make some mistakes, it’s not such a bad thing. The lesson you get to teach when you make a mistake is how to deal with it: Tell the truth. Correct the problem. Apologize. Do better next time. Etc.

Anyway, that was a tangent. I felt like I had a success and before I started my regular cycle of parenting-doubt, I wanted to make a note of it. My daughter had her first “real” sleepover last night. (Meaning that it was a friend sleeping over and not just a cousin) I’m not a very good cook, and dinners around here, especially during the week can be kind of scattered – so I was trying to come up with something that would be fun. My plan: make your own pizzas. I got some Boboli pizza crusts, cheese, sauce, and a variety of toppings: sliced olives, pre-cooked chicken, pre-cooked sausage, sliced peppers, pepperoni (I had offered mushrooms too, my favorite, but they were vociferously rejected) and I let the girls invent their own combination. It didn’t take long for them to make the pizzas, but they still had fun doing it. Even Zach got into the act, although for his, I made his pizza and he directed what to put on it (olives and sausage and pepperoni for the kid that usually eats nothing but mac and cheese!!! AMAZING!)

Then later in the evening, despite my fears of a catastrophic mess, we opened up the “Make Your Own Bubble Gum Flavor” kit Rachel got for her birthday from one of her uncles. It was a little messy (especially when you broke out the food coloring) but not nearly as bad as I was expecting. And the kids had an absolute blast doing it. They each made two different types of gum. Her friend even thanked me for letting them do the project saying it was so much fun.

Score 1 point for not-so-perfect-mom!!! 😀

Calorie check in isle 5, please?

Before I started counting calories, I hadn’t paid much attention to nutrition labels. At least, not nearly as much as I do now. Sure, I would check fiber and protein counts occasionally. Sometimes I’d double check to make sure a product didn’t contain any trans fat. Beyond that I was in the land of ignorance-is-bliss. I figured that similar products would all be about the same calories, unless something was marked as “light” – and then I assumed the item was ok to have on a diet.

When I did start to track calories, obviously this required me to pay close attention to those labels. It was a huge eye-opener. Products that seem exactly the same – can vary in calories to a huge degree. Once I saw that, reading the labels of everything I buy has become both a necessity and an obsession. It certainly has made shopping trips take a lot longer, but the quality of food I’m buying is worth the extra time. Something that can look and taste almost the same, can differ in calories by a few hundred. And the big surprise, not all of those items labeled “light” are really lower calorie.

Just today, I was looking for some quick, easy lunches. I found some instant-noodle bowls that looked interesting. They all looked about the same, but read the label and one package was around 500 calories. Another was under 300.

Another thing to watch out with those nutrition labels, sometimes I feel like they design them to fool the consumer. Something that may look like it’s a low-calorie item, may not be at all – it all depends on the portion size too. I see this a lot in cereals. We found an awesome tasting cereal that was made to look healthy and low calorie, but the one serving the nutrition label was basing it’s numbers on was so small, there would be no way to feel satisfied with it.

Scanning the labels is pretty time consuming, and with a husband and two kids usually in tow – it’s not very practical. The first few weeks of calorie counting, I had to go shopping on my own so I could spend the time to look at all the labels on the shelf. Thankfully, now things have gotten a lot easier. I’m starting to be familiar with what to expect for calories for certain items. I’m getting to know the brands that have the lower calories so shopping trips aren’t as slow as they used to be.

It took time to make this part of our regular routine and way of eating. But it’s well worth the time we invested.