Cocosellas

I have a new favorite cookie, "Cocosellas." They have a slightly crispy, sugary outside with a soft, moist middle. AND they have toasted coconut. The only thing they are missing is chocolate--but a friend suggested I experiment on that--which I plan to do--so hold on to your hats for the "Cocoa Cocosellas" in a post to come!

Cookies:
2 cups flaked coconut
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup Splenda
2 large eggs
2 tsp. vanilla

Glaze:
3 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup hot water

1. Heat oven to 375.
2. Spread coconut on baking sheet. Bake 5 minutes, then stir every minute until toasted evenly. Cool. Mix flours, salt, and baking soda. Beat butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla in a large bowl until fluffy. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in coconut by hand.
3. To make glaze, stir powdered sugar and water till smooth and pourable (may need to add sugar/water)
4. Drop dough by rounded teaspoonfuls onto baking sheets. Bake 11 minutes. Cool on baking sheets one minute.
5. To glaze cookies, dip hot cookies into glaze, top side down. Then turn and lightly dip bottom side. Use the side of a fork or the back of a table knife to skim off excess glaze from bottom. Set cookies on foil to finish cooling.

I modified the original recipe to attempt to make these lower-sugar and higher fiber, so I could eat some without guilt. Nevertheless, I've had to workout hard this week to justify my indulgence!
Monday I ran 7.2 miles in 1:01. I started out early and slow in the dark at the track, but by the end I was going a sub-8 pace--just took me a few miles to get there.
Tuesday I biked 50 minutes and did whole-body weights.
Wednesday I ran with Ashley. We went 6.54 miles in 53:43. I felt good, even on the huge hill going up to her house.
Thursday I did intervals on the treadmill. After about a 15 minute warmup, I did 10 400's at a 6 minute/mile pace with 1:30 rests in between. Then I cooled down for 10 minutes.
Today I biked 50 minutes and did weights with Christian Bale. It was awesome.

Poor, deprived piggy

Eric is gone tonight to a youth dance, and I've been practicing my patience with the boys. They have really been pretty good, but I pulled a muscle in my second smallest toe (I know how lame that sounds--no pun intended), and every step I take sends a shooting pain--not excruciating, but annoying, nonetheless--up my foot. So I would have liked to have had the night off. I've just been counting my blessings that it's not any worse and saying little prayers that it will heal soon.

Here are my workouts for the rest of the week:
Wed: I ran with Ashley. We went 5.8 miles in 46:14.
Thursday: I did nine 400 repeats at a 10mph pace on the treadmill with 1:30 rests (jogging) in between. I also did full body weights and somehow strained my "little piggy that had none."
Friday: I biked 45 minutes on the stationery. I went about 15 miles. Biking doesn't hurt my toe at all :)
Today: I biked 33.5 miles. It took me just over 2 hrs. I changed my route up a bit today and rode down Happy Hollow to Advent Circle. I'd heard that was hilly--and it lived up to its reputation. Here is a graph of the elevation for my ride (Advent Circle was in the first 1/3 of the route) :

Gratitude

I've been reading a historical fiction book series entitled "Children of the Promise" by Dean Hughes. It takes place during World War II. In reading this series, I have realized (1) how little I really knew about WWII, and (2) how easy I have it. My generation--and my parents' for that matter--have not really had to live without any necessities, or even conveniences. I have a greater appreciation for all the men and women in the armed forces. And I am trying to be more frugal. Our economy is weak right now. Our country is at war. But most people buy what they want when they want it. I know in some ways that helps the economy, but I believe consumer debt is a modern-day plague.
This series has also reminded me that the truest strength we can receive is from God. People can have conviction about many things in this world--hobbies, careers, money, even national pride. But when the human spirit is truly tested, the most powerful force that will pull a person through is faith in and love of God.

Here's my workouts for the last few days: (speaking of conviction for a hobby :))
Friday: I woke up early and started my run in the dark at the track. Then I ran around the historic area. I went a total of 8.65 miles in 1:13.
Saturday: I biked 28.9 miles in 1:46. Then I took the boys to CC practice. I jogged twelve 100's with Brandt, one 150 and one 200 with Eli (he did twelve 150's and one 200).
Monday: I pushed the stroller with Asher for 53 minutes. I had planned to do speedwork, but Asher didn't nap well, so I had to do the stroller. My legs were tired, so it was just as well.
I took the boys to practice in the afternoon. I ran 1 mile with Brandt and 1/2 mile with Eli (who did 1.5 miles total). I was so pleased they ran so much without stopping!
Today: I biked downstairs for 50 minutes and did weights.

Go, Go Power Rangers!!!

I had a little victory this week as a mom. I've found that most of the challenges that come my way with parenting kind of blindside me. One I've been struggling with for a while is Brandt's fine-motor skills. Writing and coloring haven't been one of his strengths, and I have been working with him much more than I ever had to with Eli to get him ready for kindergarten. He would switch between his right and left hand, neither one becoming any better, and keeping him interested in writing and coloring for more than 3 or 4 minutes was next to impossible. I purchased two fun handwriting wipe-off books, and we filled a couple of incentive charts with stickers to get him to practice with me some each day. He didn't write his name on his own until after school began this year--and his handwriting still kind of looks like he is a arthritic old lady. His coloring has been just a step above Ashers. He would color on the picture, but didn't pay attention to lines, and I would sometimes find him gazing around the room while his hand was still moving the crayon around on the page.
Well, on Sunday Brandt woke up with a bad cough so I stayed home from church with him. I wanted to use some of our time to work some more with him on his fine-motor skills. I decided to get a coloring book out for us to color in together. Kate gave the boys some Power Rangers coloring books that they hadn't really done much in, so I got one of those. Then, as we colored, I told Brandt he needed to pay close attention to staying in the lines so we could cut out his guys he colored and make them into toys. This really got him excited. I realized he didn't really lack much skill, he just lacked a good reason. We cut out all the pictures he colored and mounted them on cardboard. When Eli got home, he joined in and colored several for himself. We colored and mounted some more after school one day this week, and I bought some clear contact paper and laminated them. They have LOVED these. And as you can see from the pictures, Brandt's turned out very neatly colored.

Workout log- Monday: After just over a mile warm-up, I ran ten 400 meter intervals with 1 minute of rest between each and a 1 mile cool-down. I tried to keep my pace about 6:30/mi. for the intervals--but my fastest was at a 6:11 pace ( had a significant down-hill), and my slowest I averaged 7:23 (It was mostly a long, steep hill). My mean speed for all the intervals was 6:42.
Tuesday: I biked dowstairs 45 minutes and did whole-body weights.
Wenesday: I ran with Ashley 6.3 miles in 52:44. My legs were tired, but the run seemed to work out some of the lactic acid buildup.
Today: I biked downstairs 48 minutes (and watched High School Musical 2--my BOYS chose that from the library. The dancing is pretty fun to watch, though!) . I ran out of time to get all my weights in, so I just did squats, pushups, and bicep curls. This afternoon the boys had practice. Brandt has been kind of whiny at the last couple of practices, so I asked him if my running with him would help him. He said yes, so I put running clothes on and pushed Asher. Brandt and I ran eight 100's and two 1 50's. He kept saying, "I'm Sonic! No one can catch me !!" before zooming off. Thank goodness for wholesome television icons. Eli ran THIRTEEN 1 50's. I ran the last 5 with him to help him keep his pace. Their coach has them do these intervals at a target pace so they can gradually work up to running further and further. Several kids are now running 300, 400, and 600m intervals.

tired

My legs are tired. I don't say "TGIF," but "TGIS", meaning Sunday, since it is the Sabbath, and as a Latter-day Saint, I try to rest from "wordly" labors. Sometimes because of my calling in the Primary (the children's Sunday school) , it isn't all that restful at church, but the balance of the day is my day off from exercise, shopping, running kids around, and heavy house work. I also typically eat an extra cookie or 3 on Sunday. Today is Saturday, though, and I want to act like its Sunday. My legs are exhausted from my workouts this week.
Wednesday I ran with Ashley. We ran around 6 miles in 46 minutes. It was a tough run for me. The muggy air and my heavy, squat-fatigued legs felt pretty spent on the last couple of hills in the sports complex.
Thursday I biked 40 minutes and had a really good weight workout. I got 3 sets in of almost everything I do.
Friday I ran 8.5 miles. It took me 1:11. I got up at 5 that morning and went to the track since it's still dark. The first mile I was pretty stiff, but I felt pretty good after a while. My average pace was 8:21/mi. overall, but I know my last few miles were significantly faster than my first couple.
Today I got out before light again and biked 27.9 miles in 1:42. That is about 16.5 mph average. When I came home it was time for the boys to go to cross country practice. Eric took them today, and Asher was very sad to be left out, so I took him for a little run in the stroller--which he loves to do. My legs were VERY tired, and the clouds looked rather ominous, so I stuck around our neighborhood and ran 1 mile, then walked about a third of a mile.

Splendid!

I thought my blog needed a few pics, so here are some from the Labor Day weekend. We took the boys on a hike in the sports complex. I had discovered several new trails there while running that morning (I went 52 minutes at an easy pace). We hiked about 2 miles, then went over to a field and passed and kicked the football and soccer ball. The boys LOVED seeing Eric kick the ball. He is actually pretty good (He was the kicker on his jr. high team one year, I think). His aim isn't right-on, but he probably kicked it 50 yrds. a few times. The boys liked the ones that went super-high. I think Brandt was seriously hoping it would get stuck in the clouds. He kept asking Eric to try to get it up there.
Brandt has been saying all kinds of cute things lately. Some of the most precious verbal jewels we get from him are when we are spying on him and Eli as they play. Over the weekend they were pretending with their toys, and we heard Brandt say, very animatedly, "That is a splendid idea, Eli. That is a splendid idea!"

The first pic is Eli reading to Asher. That's one of those visions you have of your kids that is even better when it really happens.
The second is of the boys chillin'. Asher isn't much for t.v. yet, but he likes to be where his brothers are, so he often just sits next to them when they are watching a show.
The third is Asher lookin' handsome on Sunday for church. He is looking more and more like a Smith.
The fourth is a painting I finished this week. I tried painting on some scrap wood and really liked the results. I may take a break from canvases for a while.
The fifth is on our hike.

This morning I biked for 51 minutes while reading the second "Children of the Promise" series. I am really enjoying those books. I'm realizing more and more how my generation really doesn't know sacrifice. If we are forced to give up much of our comfortable lifestyles due to the state of the nation/world in the future, it will really be a struggle for most Americans.
I also did full-body weights.