Vranicar Family: Party of 5

This Saturday morning I will wake up and head to St. Paul to fulfill one of my big "life to-do's", running a half marathon. (this run is part of the Monster Dash series)  I've talked about my running history previously so you know that doing this tomorrow is something that, just a short while ago, I never imagined I'd ever do. Last week I felt nervous about it, earlier this week it almost felt like I didn't realize it was a few short days away and now I feel ready! I keep envisioning myself on all of the long runs I completed during my training. Each Saturday morning, rain, shine, COLD and all, running mile after mile and each time thinking, "woohoo, mile one done!" and a little later..."yes! there goes mile 3 and 4." and eventually, "wow, that was 9 miles? I could do a few more!" The feeling of accomplishment it gives you to complete something successfully is worth all the hard work that went into it. When I start to fee...

This past weekend we celebrated and celebrated and celebrated Cooper turning three. The weekend started with a family birthday at our house. It was made extra special with two Great-Grandmas being able to celebrate with us. Kevin's aunt Jean was thoughtful enough to travel to the Iron range to pick up Kevin's grandma and my dad and sister traveled from "Up North" with my grandma, who had never visited us at our home in Savage before. Both of them seemed to really enjoy their trips. With all of the partying, we didn't get to spend as much time with them as we would have liked, but are hoping to do so with the holidays approaching. After an awesome birthday with family on Saturday, we woke up and did it all over again with Cooper's friends on Sunday! Because the weather can unpredictable the end of October (it snowed the day after Cooper was born!) we decided we couldn't rely on having outdoor space for his party and planned on having to use our house to ...

Last week in our ECFE class, during the parent discussion portion, the topic of getting your kids to eat was brought up. Several moms talked about how they couldn't get their kids to eat anything but chicken nuggets, hot dogs and mac and cheese! And no matter how they tried to persuade their kiddos to eat veggies, other than a carrot, they just couldn't make them do it. Someone who doesn't want to put in the effort/work may call me "lucky" because both of our boys eat nearly everything and anything they are offered, this nearly included a Boxelder bug this week...! But my husband and I know better than that and realize that luck doesn't have much to do with us having two boys who eat the meals that are prepared for them. What is our secret? Why don't we have to plead and beg our kids to eat? We don't give them a choice.  I am and refuse to be a short order cook. Now, I'm not saying that if one of them tries something new or eats everything they ...

I'm starting to think that I could possibly be one of "those people" who make excuses for things they say they want, but seemingly cannot find the time to make it happen. For example- I realllllllly want to spend more time working out apart from the running that I currently do. There is a wonderful studio that hosts AWESOME workouts that I've been to and would love to go back and try a few different classes. However, when it comes time for me to sign up for the class, the time commitment just seems like too much and I don't sign up. Or I feel guilty for taking the time for the class and taking it away from my family. Then.... a few days pass and I think, "Gee, I really love working out, I wish there were a class where I could workout with like-minded women." So I repeat exactly what I did and think about signing up, contact the instructor and then talk myself out of it because I simply can't make the time work. Is in craziness or insanity when you...

It is hard to believe that in just under three weeks I will be the mother of a three year old. My Cooper is growing up faster than I can imagine, it really doesn't feel like we've already experienced three years of this little wonderful boy! Just last night two very funny things happened. As we headed home from work and Jill's house (daycare) we stopped to get stamps to mail his birthday invitations. While in the grocery store we picked up a few things and looked at possible birthday cakes. Much to my surprise, while I was talking to the woman in the bakery, Cooper helped himself to the biggest piece of "single serve sized" roll in the entire store. It was nearly as large as his head! I noticed as he was taking a huge bite out of it saying, "This is really good mommy!" The second memorable moment of the evening occurred as Kevin came home from work. Parker, Cooper and I were making dinner and playing cars when he walked in .We all said hello to one a...