A Run for Fun

Lately we have been so busy here at the Jennings House!

I repainted the whole house (pictures to come)! 

Baseball has really consumed a majority of our time, but the boys are doing awesome.  Cole is the starting third baseman on his team and Chase rotates in and out of right field and their hitting has improved with every game.

Trey is continuing on with soccer and loving it.

 

We recently had Cole’s Birthday Party, which turned out awesome.  I love planning parties! 

Trey and Chase birthdays are right around the corner, so we have began to get ready for those parties too!

In a couple weeks we are planning a vacation with my parents to Fort Jefferson at the Dry Tortugas, which is 70 miles from Key West in the Gulf of Mexico.  It has been several years since we made the trip and this will be Chase’s first time!  This year we plan on camping out for two days.  Wish us luck (no running water, electricity, etc.)  We are going to be roughing it.

With all that said lets talk fitness!  I started a 21 day challenge through www.dailyburn.com (Netflix for workouts).  It is actually a pretty cool site.  I received a 2 month trial for free and thought why not.  I am now 13 days into the inferno challenge and it is a tough one!  I am hoping to get a more toned tummy out of all of this!  I still continue to run at least 4 times a week.  Greg (running buddy) came up with a great idea to run on the beach.  All I can say is wow!  3 miles feels like 6, but we have gotten a little faster each time.

The Inferno workouts have been making me ridiculously sore.  I know this means I am working muscles I normal miss but wow.  I decided to go for a run today for fun.  I did bring my Garmin along but never took a glance at it.  I ran 30 minutes one way then turned around and ran back.  I focused only on my stride and stretching my muscle out.  When I crossed the bridge I stopped to “smell the roses”, well there are no roses on the back country trail but I did get to see a mommy alligator with her babies basking in the sun!  How cool is that. 

The run was a nice change of pace from everything, exercise included.  Before I knew it I got 7 miles in and felt great.

Call of Duty Black Ops II Party

Cole turned 10 this year and wanted a Call of Duty: Black Ops II themed party.

Let the party planning begin!  I started with the usual; Google and Pinterest searching, to come up blank.  I guess there are not a lot of Call of Duty: Black Ops II parties out there.  Well I do love a challenge!

First things first, I sat down with the boys and watched them play the game.  There were zombies, guns, revive shots, special colas, care packages and more.  Now the creative juices were flowing.  Last year Cole had a Zombie party and Trey had a Military party, so I combined the two with some new ideas!

The results turned out pretty sweet!

 

The Invites

I made the invites in Word then sent them over to Wal-Mart and had them print them for me.  Saves my printer on all the ink, plus you cant beat 40 cents a print!

The Table

Back Drop Decorations

I love this guy!  We have been using him for years for our Halloween parties!  Best after Halloween special I have ever bought!

Found the poster and camo netting on Amazon; the axe is a leftover Halloween decoration and the weapons, grenades, etc came from the Dollar Store.

Drinks

In the game you have several different soda that help you along the way. Hawaiian Punch has three flavors that worked perfect. I did not find any root beer in small bottles so the boys got water instead.

                             Quick Revive                                                                       Speed Cola

                                        Juggernogg Soda                                                          Double Tap Root Beer

Party Favors

You also receive “care packages” during the game.  Our care packages are black takeout boxes with orange masking tape.  Inside the boxes were a military rubber bracelet, water guns and dum-dums.

Cake and Deserts

The cake is vanilla on bottom, chocolate on top.  Cole requested no fondant this year so I did camo buttercream icing.  I used part of a bullet belt as a border and added Zombies and the weapons.  The Black Ops II Skull is printed wafer paper attached to fondant.

Super easy camo cupcakes with army men on top!  I found the camo cupcake liners on Amazon and the Army Men at Wal-Mart.

Bio-Hazard Sugar cookies, I usually have the boys sugar cookies made but these were super easy to make with fondant.

Cole’s favorite!  Chocolate pudding, crushed chocolate animal crackers, gummy worms with Zombie Hand. (Zombie hands are cupcake picks found on Amazon)

Zombie Hands!  Green candied coated popcorn with chocolate almond finger nails.

Revival Shots aka orange Jell-O shots!  These were a hit at the party! 

Zombie Fingers, string cheese with spinach leaves.

Some other party food; wings, cuties (oranges), black corn chips, combos and sausage balls.

The Party

It turned out to be a great day!  The kids didn’t get a chance to get in the water (too cold and windy) but they had a blast anyway.

Cole’s Happy Birthday Song!

 

One party down, two more to go!

Motivation

 

Triathlon Training Week 4

So far tri training has been going good.  I have yet to really hit the water and swim some laps, but its seems the cards are against me.  The pool heater at the rec pool has been broken and the weather has been a little to cold for my liking.  I did put together a workout to try and compensate for not swimming. 

I am now week five into my training!  As of today I have ran 68 miles, cycled 162 miles, not sure on swimming miles, and hit the weights 3X’s a week.  I have been trying to stick as closely to the training plan as I can.  Honestly the cycling part has been the hardest but I am very slowly getting a little faster every week!  I am aiming to complete the 17 miles in an hour, depending on weather condition the day of the tri.

I know I have been MIA for a couple weeks but a lot has been going on; tri training is really taken up a lot of my time; as of the beginning of the year I started writing articles for Skinny Mom; and we got a new pound puppy!

I have two race recaps to come!  The Pensacola Double Bridge Run 5K (place 4th overall female/1st in my division)

and the Sweetheart Run (paced my oldest Trey in the 5K – he placed 3rd in his division).

So proud of Trey!

So get out there and go!

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