Mountain Mother Runner

We have been reading about life in the dessert and one of our favorite things is the cactus, obviously! They range from big to small, and some even have beautiful flowers! Not only have we looked at pictures and watched videos about them (did you know some types absorb rain water and swell up?), we have been able to hike and view them locally, as native species! Very cool! Here's a short educational video for you to watch with your child before starting this craft! Salt Dough Cactus Craft You will need: 2 ½ cups flour ½ cup + 2 tablespoons salt 1 cup water Large bowl Wooden spoon Baking Sheet Parchment Paper (optional) First things first, preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Now, add the flour and salt to your bowl. Pour the water in slowly and begin to mix with a spoon. Switch to mixing with your hands (or your kiddo can have fun doing this) to thoroughly knead the dough and get a sensory experience! If sticky, add a little bit more flour. If too dry...

I am SO excited to share this Camping Study freebie with you! It requires nearly zero prep as the parent or teacher, and will provide a variety of fun and engaging worksheets for your little one to explore! I’ve written a brief explanation of each page with some extra discussion ideas to expand their curiosity and critical thinking. This download has been designed primarily for Kindergarten children, but it can be adapted for Preschool-Grade 2 students. There are a total of five pages to be completed with a focus on sorting, matching, number recognition, addition, and practicing mindfulness in the outdoors.  Make sure to scroll to the bottom for your   free download of this printable!  At nearly five years old, our daughter was finally able to go ‘real’ camping. Anything that isn’t ‘real’ means that the tent is set up in our living room or somewhere else within our house. After our move back to Colorado, we were invited to go camping in the mountains. It was ...

Being a new mom, many of us cuddle up with our baby and explore a nice board book together. Their little eyes are developing new strength while looking at the bright colors and bold pictures. As they grow, we start to read books with basic concepts and simple words. Three, four, five years old…the words become short sentences, which soon create paragraphs. Easy reader chapter books may be introduced during this time too! Picture books made up the majority of our early years book collection, but many were donated as our daughter grew up. Recently, I got a beautiful picture book as a surprise for Eisley. She quickly began flipping through the pages, looking up at me with a bit of confusion. “Mom, how are you going to read this book to me? There aren’t any words in it!” she said. “I’m not going to read this book to you. You are going to read this book to me!” I responded with a smile. I quickly grabbed a pencil and some paper. Then, I explained that she was going to look at the p...

Who doesn't love DINOSAURS? They are so interesting, unique, and mysterious for children and adults alike! In addition to the main curriculum we are using ( BookShark , a literature-based homeschool program), I enjoy incorporating subject-related books at the local libraries, songs/videos on YouTube, crafts, games, and field trips. I am not sure if myself or Eisley were more excited to kick off our kindergarten homeschooling with a Dinosaur Unit, but either way, we wanted to share some resources with you! Books: Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Creatures You Can Draw   by Nicole Brick & Patricia Stockland. A major hit in our household, this book features step-by-step instructions for drawing your favorite dinosaurs like the Triceratops, Ankylosaurus, and Tyrannosaurus Rex! All levels of artists can create by either following the steps, free styling the dinosaur image, drawing over with tracing paper, or using paints and multimedia instead. Fun facts are included with ea...

Well that was a little unexpected...it’s been nearly TWO years since my last blog post. That is a simple example of how chaotic and unexpected our life has been in recent years. We happily sold our home in Washington and recently moved back to Colorado Springs. This place is considered to be my ‘original’ home because I grew up here from kindergarten through high school graduation, left for college,  and returned for a year after marrying my sweet husband. We explored the Pacific Northwest for the last five years and returned to the Midwest. Don’t get me wrong, the PNW will always have a piece of my heart, but this area is where we belong. The last race I ran was in February 2018...quite a long time ago. It was my one and only marathon race, which also happened to be during my year of going back to full-time college and becoming a licensed massage therapist. Running was put on the back burner during my schooling and afterwards while I started my own massage practice. Since w...

It has been nearly three months since my last blog post and I'm FINALLY able to write a recap of the BIGGEST race I'd ever trained for! I can't believe that I wrote a weekly wrap (final training recap can be found here ) for an entire 18 weeks (or 654.04 miles) of training and then left you all hanging without knowing the outcome of the race. If you didn't already know the cause of this delay...I replaced my 'title' of stay-at-home-mom with full-time Massage Therapist student. I have had the teeniest, tiniest amount of "free" time during these months and the hierarchy of what to do with this time has been the following: family, sleep, salt baths, running, reading, eating, blogging. Yes, the idea of writing any sort of blog has been on the bottom of my list and luckily I have felt zero guilt about that. I'm coming up on finals week at school which is followed by a THREE WEEK winter break which I plan to fill with running and fun family adventures. ...

The final recap of Ultra (?) Training is here! If you hadn’t read my post last week , the taper time of rest and reduced running was really driving me crazy. I had read other runners’ stories and experiences of dealing with the ‘Taper Blues’ or the ‘Taper Tantrums’, but I hadn’t ever gone through it myself! My last three training runs were shared with Eisley in the stroller. We did 6.34 miles on Monday, 6.10 miles on Tuesday, and a short shakeout run of 3.04 miles on Friday. Not sure about you, but I am a numbers person! I love keeping track of everything so I can look back and compare. After going through each of the 18 weeks of training, I was very surprised at the numbers that added up from my mileage logged... Solo Miles: 446.39 Stroller Miles: 207.65 Total miles: 654.04 Are you kidding me? I can't believe Eisley cruised around for over 200 miles this summer listening to music, eating snacks, taking naps, and telling me to run faster. We've had so much fun to...