CrossFit Will Kill You and Make you Poop Your Pants..

With all the negativity surrounding CrossFit lately, with accusing it of causing rhabdo, and categorizing all CrossFit coaches into a lump of screaming, relentless, yelling lunatics, and setting the premise that only super-fit athletes can do it, if that!  I felt like I needed to add my 2 cents.

It will kill you.
And it will make you poop your pants.

Just ask my kids.

Leah has been attending a strength and conditioning class at our CrossFit gym that incorporates CrossFit movements into the workouts.  She is loving it!  I have actually noticed a difference in her behavior post-workout...either because it wears her out OR because she is getting her movement-seeking sensory needs met.  As well as moving around heavy weight, which is similar to joint compressions, in that it is soothing to a child with sensory issues.  Anyway, I am always excited to ask her about what she has learned...I no longer stay at class to watch--she spends too much time making sure I'm watching--and not enough time paying attention...last week she said, "Mom! Sarah made us do an exercise tonight that is supposed to kill you!"

I laughed out loud and said, "what??"  The first thought I had was that they did a workout called "Death by Pull Ups"...which includes you doing 1 pull up a minute, 2 pull ups the 2nd minute, etc. until you can no longer do one.  But she assured me that wasn't it...so I asked her to demonstrate.  She said they had to pick a bar up off the ground, stand up with it, then put it back down...until you die!

Deadlift! The name of a basic weightlifting movement. Ha! Now I got it!  Her literal thinking took over... I couldn't stop laughing thinking about what was going through her mind as she was lifting that bar up and down until death! She said she was able to do all the teacher said to do...and she was still alive!  Phew!

So be aware of that when you CrossFit, you might deadlift.

Somedays I teach a CrossFit class at 1 o'clock PM and Autum helps me instruct.  She always asks if she can go with me to class and do push-ups.  She loves hooking her arms in the rings and swinging in the air out in front of a big box.  That is her warm-up!

Yesterday's workout was one she could participate with us in, so she tagged along.  She started out by running 100 meters, then she had to do as many push-ups as she could.  I would write each class participant's number of reps on the board before they took off to run again, and so she would do the same.  She would say, "Mommy, Alma has 1! Bye!"  She would run out and back and come in and do some sit-ups, which were next on the list.  She did dumbbells rows, and some other movements I wasn't quite sure what she called, but all the same she did a few rounds of it.  When we were finished she told me to tally up her score like I did everyone else's and to record it on our wall of fame board.  Then as were walking out of the gym to leave, she said, "I did good today, Mommy!  Aaaaaand I pooped my pants..."

Silence.

"I tink I wran too fast!"

So there you have it.
CrossFit can push you so hard you poop in your Tuesday panties.  So beware.



     

Run for the Rocks

Yesterday the kids and I loaded up in the van and headed to Hutchinson to cheer on my mom in her half-marathon race, Run for the Rocks.  She did not know we were coming.  When you run that far, you want someone at the end cheering you on!  The cool thing about Run for the Rocks is that you finish your final 300 meters on a track at Gowans Stadium.  So it feels olympic-like with the fans cheering you as you stride across the finish line.  Luckily we were allowed to go out on the football field and run with the race participant's as they finished, so Leah and Autum were ready to roll.  They did some stretching, mixed in with some cartwheels and cheerleading moves to prepare.  Blake just did 100's of somersaults at the 50-yard line, which I'm pretty sure explains his upset stomach and whining for the next hour.  We waited and waited, watching these amazing athletes finish.  People you would see on the street and never peg as the kind to finish a half-marathon! 


That's a long ways for the average person to run, so to see people of all ages and abilities finish a distance like that, so strong, is pretty motivating! 

Every person that entered the track would be followed up with Leah saying, "There's Mimi! Nope...not Mimi!"  This went on for what seemed an hour.  Until finally she was right...and here came my mom running in her neon pink shirt and socks.  She hit the last 200 meters and picked up her pace, Leah was hauling behind her trying to catch up to finish the race alongside my mom...haha! For a minute I didn't think Leah was going to catch her and I was afraid of what disappointment might ensue if Mimi "beat" her to the finish.  But my mom finally heard her hollering and Leah made her way up to my mom and they finished together.  Autum stood at the finish line in her pee-filled shorts and boots...with her pom pom's cheering!  Blake was nowhere to be found. Upon scanning the field for his presence, I see him sprinting toward the goal line at the complete other end of the football field, right into oncoming runners.  I wasn't really planning to have to participate in the morning's running festivities, but nevertheless, I took off after him.  Caught him just as his foot was about to step onto the track...phew!

The kids spent the next 30 minutes begging Mimi to get them some post-race granola bars and bananas, until I had to put the stop to the overfeeding...there were still a lot of finisher's left! 

I was asked by several by-standers if I was here to cheer on my husband, or sister, or friend...and when my reply was "my mom"...I always get a look like, "really? Wow!"

And I usually reply with something like, "Evidently you have not met my mom yet, she is pretty amazing--toughest gal I know!"

 

Settling In..Kinda

 

People keep asking if we are getting settled into our new house yet, and I keep saying "Yes, kinda."  I think we are settled in, as far as having most boxes unpacked and furniture arranged.  But mentally, it still doesn't feel like home yet.  A friend said that it will happen as we slowly make memories at our new house and in the community.  And that is probably right.  We attended our first McPherson College football game Saturday night because Leah cheered at the game.  She only said "Go Bluejays!" once, she said. :)

Blake even got into the cheering!

Autum cheered shyly from her seat.

...but it didn't take Leah long to get the crowd fired up.

And what's an outing without a 2-year old meltdown? I mean why can't she climb to the top of the cement bleachers by herself..

What? I'm not climbing to the top...turn back around and watch the game..

 

Stunt-girl!

 

 

 

But there are days when I reminisce about our days of familiarity in Hillsboro...

Getting balloons and suckers at most of our weekly errand stops along the way...the bank, the hardware store, Dale's..

Our weekly trips to Emprise Bank

We will probably mostly miss our stops into Molly's on Main and chats and hugs with Grandma Sharon!

And our morning walks in the stroller that started so long ago with only Leah and Rylie  and our single strollers..and has multiplied to this!

Short Stories

Leah is studying various cultures around the world right now, so in school they walked to a Mexican restaurant to partake in the cultural food and atmosphere...she told our new-I might add- neighbors they went there to eat because they are studying immigration...ugh.

They have not been back over since...

Autum grabbed my hand Saturday morning and kept yelling something that sounded like, "cars! cars!" She was very excited and worked up, so I hurried after her..half expecting to find she had pooped on the floor again...When we got downstairs, she reached down in one of Leah's toy boxes and pulled out a school pencil pouch...unzipped it and handed me 2, $100 bills..."Here ya go....cash!"

Oh...my...word...this girl is good!  I will never know if she knew where it was the whole time or if she just remembered where she put it from before..

(If you have no idea the significance of this story, read the blogpost before this one.)

I loaded the 2 little kids up in the van and we headed to Hutchinson to the Kansas State Fair.  We were planning a fun-filled, but hot, day at the fair with my dad.  We get to Hutch, I get to my parents and realize Autum has changed her shoes and is wearing a pair of Leah's pink cowgirl boots that are WAY TOO big...*sigh.  So we pop into Kmart and buy her a pair of pink cowgirl boots...and off we go.  We get to the gate entrance, I reach for my wallet to get cash out to pay...and its empty..thanks to my husband...Luckily it was Dillon's card day and you get in free.  We head off toward the big yellow slides, these two's favorite! We ride down it 2-3 times, we watch the pig races, we walk through the barns, we pet the animals at the petting zoo, we eat a Pronto Pup...its about 11 am and something tells me to check my phone...

I have a missed call from Blake's school...its a reminder his IEP meeting was rescheduled for today at 12:30 pm...

UH OH...

And he is to start school today too.

Where is my brain these days???

We turn the stroller around, jet out of there, and back to McPherson.  Autum is crying and half asleep.  Blake is covered in llama hair, dirt, and ketchup.  We stop by home I grab him some new clothes, a diaper or two...a bookbag and off we go...Autum plants herself down on the kitchen floor and refuses to move until I get her a bookbag. I run up and get her one...she screams until I get her a change of clothes and a diaper too (which makes no sense because she is potty-trained...almost)  We load up and head back to the school.  Blake goes to class and Autum and I head to his IEP meeting.  It's 12:40 pm...no one is there.  They rescheduled it for 1 pm...*sigh...

We sit down and hash out the details, luckily there is a play area in the room so Autum keeps herself entertained with toys...she eventually gets bored with that and crawls her way over under the table we are all circled around...and poops on the floor at everyone's feet...

ARE YOU kidding ME???

I have to send the meeting in to remission while I run out to the van to change her...I have no plastic sacks so luckily one of the kids sand buckets was in the back and I loaded it full of her mess and clothes...put her extra change of clothes that I am NOW so very glad she demanded to bring back on...and back to the meeting we went.  Where she sat at my feet and yelled "YIPS!"  "YIPS!" for 10 minutes...(for those that don't have 2 -year olds that means I need a nap now and for some reason I need mommy's chapstick too)  I finally redirected her to the toys and we continued on...next thing I know she is gone.  Snuck out. I look up and down the hallway, only to see her standing in line with Blake's class to go outside for recess...see the substitute teacher was in charge and Autum just snuck right in line being mistaken for  a preschool student, and pretended to be following directions very well.  Until I drug her away kicking and screaming...

The meeting wrapped up quickly after that...

Now we are home and she is napping, and I should be...

Waiting for preschool.

Pronto Pups at the Fair

Pig races!!

Papa and the Petting Zoo

Waiting to go to school...post-meltdown

Headed inside.

 

 

Moving...

My observations with going through all of our stuff the past week.

1. We have too much stuff...
2. Too much stuff makes me feel angry, when so many are in need elsewhere...
3.  A 2 and 3 year old can unpack stuff faster than I can turn my head around...
4.  Large empty boxes will keep a 2 and 3 year old busy for at least an hour...
5.  Leah is a hoarder.
6.  I go through Leah's stuff when she is not home.
7.  Blake is NOT a hoarder.  He throws away everything...my new shoes, my bra, his new school bag, Autum's doll...
8.  I check the trashcan before taking it out to the dumpster.
9.  What do you do with all your old pictures?
  -Thank GOD there was not Facebook when you were in high school and college..
  -Jerad and I had to reach an agreement on how many old boyfriend/girlfriend pics you keep from high school and college.
  -Do you throw away only the ones from college that do not show you with beer in your hand or do you keep those as lessons to your kids later on in life?
  -You wonder exactly what you were thinking taking pictures of half the things you did..
  -You just don't even ask about some of them and immediately throw them in the burn pile...
  -You keep hilarious pictures of your family members for blackmail later on...
  - You do some explaining to your husband when he asks about a few of the pics from high school..
  -You laugh one minute and cry the next..
  -You realize you need to call some old friends and reconnect..
  -Explain to Leah that the prom pictures of me with another guy doesn't mean I don't like daddy anymore..I didn't even know daddy then...to which she kept covering her eyes and said "I just can't look at it!"

10.  I have less clothes than Jerad now...explains No. 5 above.
11.  Moving is a great workout.
12.  Especially when you move on a day when it is 100 degrees out with 90% humidity.
13.  Family is awesome!
14.  Kids are resilient...so far.
15.  Sleeping next to Blake's room alerts me to his 3 am habit of singing, while still asleep, sitting up...every night..
16.  The thrift store here shuts its doors when they see my van roll up...again...today...with my 4th load of crap.
17.  You always think your kitchen is big...until you start unloading boxes.
18.  Make sure you know your new address before calling the gas company and waiting 30 minutes to talk to the next available representative..and having to hang up and start over.
19.   Deposits are expensive!  Do you ever really get them back?
20. I hate wallpaper...I still feel like I'm staying the week at my grandmas...not living in my new house.

On a side note, we did NOT find the 2, $100 bills that Autum ran off with last Friday morning while I was still in bed.  She took them off the cabinet and hid them, but won't tell us where and seemingly can't remember.  I kept thinking they would just appear...in a box, in a bag, somewhere...but NO such luck!  It became the joke of the weekend.  Jerad thinks she'll just come out of her room one day and say "hewe's youw money! I done with it!"

At this point, I'm hopeful of that too.  Or else we just donated a fairly new oven to a local couple. UGH! Almost makes me sick..