It started off rather early (5:50am) with a, oh,  12 mile jog ( if you call running 9:15s a jog).  I opened the door expecting to get hit with a wall of humid, heat; instead, I get a cool almost chilly blast of air.  HEAVEN to a runner!  The temps, slight breeze, and late sunrise made this run “easy” and it literally “breezed” by.

We had lunch at Rudy’s around 11:15, then made it out to Lake Austin about 12:30ish for Super Air Nautique 210′s (Nauti’s) maiden voyage.  Man, she is sure different from the Supras and the Mastercraft X-Star.  She has more power, handles completely differently, the bimini rules, her fat sacks make for a killer wake.  We hung out in the cove, Jeff did some wakeboarding, and Connor even gave it a go!  I am SUPER PROUD of CONNOR!

There were no meltdowns from the kids nor parents; even though, we didn’t get off the lake until close to 5pm.  We completed the day with dinner at Jersey Mike’s (our fave sandwich shop).  I got a touch red from the boat and sore from the run, but everyone else seems to be unscathed.

We didn’t do anything exciting today.  Jeff rode his bike for about 60 miles this morning, while I got to sleep in because my parents decided that the kids could spend the night at their house on Friday (totally last-minute, was kinda pissed bc we are too old to recover or make plans last-minute, so I was asleep by 10:30 – LAME).  After I picked them up, we went shopping, I worked the concession stand at soccer, we had Connor’s soccer game, I met his best friend’s Mom (which I am pretty sure I gave the WRONG phone # to), I went grocery shopping, I made dinner (ground beef tacos w/homemade guac), we went to Wal-Mart where I completed the kids Halloween outfits. Finally, I prepared my gear for tomorrow’s 12 mile run.

I leave you with my 2 favorite purchases today……

Who could pass up these?

Sorry we’ve been away so long!  Not that anyone really missed me in the blog world….

I’ll try to catch everyone up.  Honestly, it hasn’t been anything too awesome.

Here we go….

We headed into February with a SNOW DAY!  Yes, our warm state got some cold weather and a lil’ “snow” to boot.  Connor had a great time playing in it.  Brooke; on the other hand, took a couple of steps out and told me firmly – NOOOOOOO, then immediately headed inside.

My Snow Angel

 A few days after the snow, we had wonderful weather which was awesome since we celebrated Brooke’s 2nd birthday!  It was a fabulous flowers & butterflies themed birthday party!  Our little darling turned 2 on Feb 9th & we had some friends and family over to celebrate.  It was a really fun time with cake, games, crafts, pinata, and presents!

Birthday Brooke

Connor competed in his first true Karate Tournament called the Lone Star Open.  If you’ve never been to one of these, all I can say is WOW!  People from all over the country came to compete.  They had all levels and skills represented.  It was really fun to watch some of the weapons performances.  Connor did well in his sparring competition, coming in 3rd out of 12.  His trophy was bigger than him and boy were we proud of him!

 Selfish Mom headed into what is called monster month which is the month leading up to the marathon.  On Sunday, February 20th I completed my first Half Marathon!  I ran in the Livestrong Austin Half Marathon.  It was torture!  The course was tough!  Hills, wind, heat – OH MY!  I did less than 10 min miles, but I didn’t hit mile goal of 9:30s or less….. I am still proud of myself and would totally do another one!  You can read up on my update on dailymile.

Selfish Mom Half Marathon

All in all, it was a nice month.  Selfish Mom’s work got crazy, but I am still totally digging the gig.

When we last left off it was the cold, dreary January…man, time seriously flies…

January in the Selfish Household was all about refreshing our home.  We’ve lived here for 4 yrs and it needed a small facelift.  We painted the entire interior of our home & I do mean entire.  Half was done by “professionals” the other half was completed by Selfish Dad in an attempt to save us some moola.  Not only did it save us some green, he totally rocked it!  The rooms look great!  We are still working on the playroom and master bedroom, but that is it.  I need to get colors finalized…. The majority of our home (living, kitchen, & all bathrooms) is a color called Kenya by Behr.  It’s a color that kinda looks like the color of sand with all its multi-faceted hues.  Sometimes it looks brownish, sometimes yellowish, sometimes orangish.  Sounds odd, but it actually is really warming and relaxing.  The entry & formal dining color is another by Behr called Antique Copper.  I was shocked when it looked kinda burnt orange (GASP!), but I really do like it.  It looks inviting, yet bold and dramatic.  The office is (you guessed it) Behr Eco Green, a nice calming, soothing hue.  The kids’ rooms are slap you in the face BOLD – Selfish Brother has another green called Hidden Meadow (BRIGHT!) & Selfish Sister is a purple shade called Lavender Sparkle.  For pics head to our website, jeffnjenny.

We pulled up almost all the carpeting and tile in the home and laid down some fantastic wood floors.  Only the kids’ rooms & play room have carpet and the remaining tile lies only in the bathrooms.  As per previous post, we went with Virgina Mill Works 3/8″ x 4-3/4″  Handscraped Tobacco Road Teak which is really Acacia wood.  I love it now; however, shoes & even bare feet on it seem to make lots of noise.

Also from a previous post; before painting and flooring, we had our entire home (sans kids’ bed & bathrooms) outfitted with crown molding.

Since we don’t plan to move again until maybe Selfish Brother is moving into Jr High….. we are seriously thinking of making these improvements as well:

• Upgrade ceiling fan & add pot lights in living room
• Kitchen cabinet door handles
• Upgrade all light fixtures
• Upgrade Master bathroom: tile shower & tub area, granite/silestone countertops
• extension of back porch (prolly a long shot)
• playscape

Then, of course, the decorating & organizing must be taken seriously:

• curtains
• bathroom accessories
• entryway station
• mudroom type area

Enough about the home, what did the Selfish Family actually do this past January?!  Well, the kids didn’t really do much.  Selfish Mommy was still training for the Austin Half Marathon, though.  For a speed workout, A & I ran the 3M Half Marathon Relay.  I ran the first half which came to 6.4m in 8min 29sec avg miles!  Our team, Runnin’ from the Kids, came in FIRST PLACE in the open division!  For winning, we received a really sweet plaque with our pictures on it.  You can read my running blog at dailymile.

Well, we finally committed to colors, rather nice neutral colors that still have some ZING, OOMPH, POW!  We just want to brighten & bold  it up a tiny bit.  We chose the satin/eggshell finish to pizzazz it up some more, but also to be able to clean it.  You know, kids and all….We’re going from drab to fab!

Our Foyer, Dining, and kitchen bar areas will be Behr’s Copper Mountain.  We’ll paint the coffered ceilings as well as the dining ceiling in Behr’s Kenya.  I am hoping this color will bring a richness & welcoming feeling.  It’s a reddish-brown color.  It is a touch more “formal”.

Copper Mountain

Also in Kenya, will be the living room, art niches, halls, breakfast, and kitchen areas.  It’s a nice sandy color with an sorta yellow/cream undertone.  I think this lighter & brighter color are needed because those spaces do not get much natural light.  With the darker wood floors coming in, I felt we needed a color that prevented a cave or college dorm feel….. 

Kenya

Finally, we are going with a sage or olive-green in the office.  The color we tested was Behr’s Eco Green, but I am not loving it.  It looks kinda like baby poop or spit up and I don’t want to re-live those days…

Eco Green

For good measure here is snap of the colors together against the current wall color.  I think they are relatively complementary.  Nothing too bold or “out there’ for us, we don’t like to stray far from our neutral zone.  I think the colors we chose just add a lil something, snazzy factor!

We went with Virgina Mill Works 3/8″ x 4-3/4″  Handscraped Tobacco Road Teak which is really Acacia wood.  We went with it for a variety of reasons:

1. It is high on the toughness scale (Janka), like 2200, thus making it harder to scratch and dent

2. It is handscraped which means it is slightly distressed and not super shiny.  This will allow our kids to beat it up and it still look the same.

3. It has high color & striation variation.  Basically, it is multi-tone browns from light to dark.  I wanted to be able to have it blend with all furniture & cabinetry colors.

4. It is not super formal, but not everyday either.  I don’t think this is something you see a lot of.

5. I hope that it will bring some lightness & will open up the rooms a bit.  We don’t get a ton of sunlight and I was afraid the darker wood would make it almost too ”cozy”.

courtesy of Lumber Liquidators

We had a budget that got totally blown due to some things you don’t really think about; namely, glue, t-molding, and quarter round. 

Fingers crossed we LOVE it!  I never can really tell until it is all down.  I am concerned that it might not blend as seamlessly as I would like with existing cabinets & furniture.   I am also concerned that it might appear too “country” or ”rustic cabin”.  Worst case, I see lots of rugs in our future….

This means we have less than 2 weeks (this is when it arrives) to get our wall colors picked out, painters lined  up, and painting completed because it needs to be first in the mini-renovation.

Here is another shot.  This is not our home, but these pictures give a really good idea of what it looks like installed.  Thanks to the folks willing to post on Lumber Liquidators!

Started the bidding process with independent contractors & been stunned out of your mind to find out what things really cost?

Freaked out and decided to call the whole thing off?  Just to start it up again immediately.

Been stressed and confused beyond belief about paint color?

If you have, then tell me how you got through it.  I simply cannot make a committment to a paint color or curtains. How are we ever going to figure out the floor! Visualizing color and what looks good is not something I do well.  Funny, I can commit my whole life to a person(s), but not to something as simple as updating our home.

Entire interior painting, new floors, new curtains…..here we come!

Selfish Mommy committed to running a race a month (which I almost did, darn Jan & Aug) & began a running regime to train for the Austin Half Marathon on 2/20/2011.  In 2010, I logged more than 300 miles of running & posted some major 5k PR (less than 9 min miles)!  I was fortunate to have some really great adventures including a free hand canvas painting class, pole dancing class, a static aerial class, and a ceramic painting adventure. Finally, the biggest event for me was a promotion & job change in May!

Jeff logged lots of flight hours taking several business trips to California & one to China.  He rode 109 mi in just over 6 hrs to complete the El Tour de Tucson & established a group of road & mountain biking friends.  He also got himself a sweet ride, a 2011 Black on Black leather GMC Yukon Denali.

Connor started his Pre-K program at St Elizabeth’s and had a SUPER year of firsts, successfully attained his yellow, orange, & advanced orange belts in Karate, completed 2 more gymnastic classes, played indoor as well as outdoor soccer, learned to ride his bike without training wheels, ran 3 Kid’s K, rode on the boat tube by himself, and turned FIVE in November with an awesome Big Rig themed indoor inflatable wonderland !  Connor is a strong kid finishing the year weighing about 47 lbs & is about 47 inches tall with a size 13 shoe.

We completed our first year as a family of 4 by celebrating Brooke’s FIRST birthday with a ducky themed bash in February.  2010 has brought lots of milestones for B.  She started talking & running, she took gymnastics classes, she loves the water, she plays pretend with her babies, is super independent, loves putting on & taking off her own clothes & shoes, and is just generally very lovey & happy.  She ended the year weighing about 26 lbs & is about 33 inches tall.

Although 2010 was good to us, we are looking forward to 2011!  I don’t have any real resolutions, but things & habits I want to do &/or become better about.  There are some milestones I am also very excited about!

We plan to upgrade our home by having the entire house painted & (hopefully) hardwood floors installed.  I am almost done picking out all the colors.  We have people scheduled to give us estimates on both for this week!  I also purchased new curtains & we plan to put up our old ones as well.  I want to have cabinetry/shelving/organization either purchased or custom-built for several places including: office, kids’ bathroom, master bathroom, and breakfast area since it’s our drop off-center when we walk into the house.

We have and will continue to clean house.  I already got rid of all of our old pots & pans, everyday silverware as well as glass/barware.  I figured we’re adults and should have adult things, not stuff from college on the cheap.  The replacement of things is the issue….

I am working on being a better parent.  Trying my best to be more in the moment & there with my kids.  I do a lot for them and give them fun things to participate in or do, we go to fun places, but I am really bad about just being & playing.  I am thinking maybe a bike to ride as a family around the neighborhood, maybe some skates too.  We love our board & card games, so family movie & game nights are in order!

I am working on putting down the work.  When 5pm rolls around, I need to learn to be done until the next day.  End of story.

I want to maintain the training routine I am in. 

I want to expand Renee’s Rack Pack to our own race.  If we cannot get the race this year, then I at least want all the planning to take place.

I’d like to blog at least once a week, more if  can.  Ultimately, I’d like to expand my audience.  I really enjoy getting some of this out into the ether….

Connor starts kindergarten & this will completely change our lives.  We are anxious and excited at the same time.  We will also start on our religious classes to get ready for 1st Communion. 

This will be a big year for Brooke.  We already have plans for potty training & quite possibly by end of the year transitioning to a big girl bed.  We will also have the pacifiers phased out by the end of the year.

Somewhere in the midst of all this, we will also find time for a vacation!

Here we come 2011, the Selfish Family is coming in HOT!

Selfish Daddy & I took the last 2 weeks of December off; although, that meant we had the kiddos full-time for 2 weeks straight – gah!

As you already know, we headed into the break with our White Elephant Party.  We followed that up with a week of preparing for Christmas.  Basically, we did a lot of last-minute shopping & just generally getting into “vacation” mode.  We also visited Santa.

Christmas Eve brought cold, wet, & dreary weather.  We threw out our Reindeer food in preparation for Santa.  We made cookies.  We also went to the Children’s Mass (4pm) at our Church.  We followed that up with dinner at Fish Daddy’s.  We headed home & into bed  & the Selfish parents transformed into Elves.  We wrapped, we constructed, we laid out presents… 

Selfish Mommy & Kids all ready for Xmas Mass

Christmas day, our son arose before dawn.  We had less than 5 hrs sleep.  I had to wake up his sister, she wasn’t very happy.  The morning consisted of opening gifts, lots of playing, and I made sausage, apple, cranberry stuffing and cranberry chutney.  We then headed over to the Selfish Grandparents for the family celebration.  We are lucky enough to have lots of family in the immediate vicinity.  I have my parents, 2 of his sisters (with their families), my brother, and my grandparents. We opened more presents, ate lots of food, had some drinks, and generally had a good time.  My uncle took lots of great family pics, too!  It is so nice that my grandparents get to see 2 of their 5 great children often.

Selfish Family

Batey Family

Connor hit the jackpot with a new bike & helmet, a V-Tech Pocket (portable gaming system), a V-Tech VSmile, lots of games to go with them, as well as a computer keyboard with associated games for learning on a real computer.

Connor Tricking out sans training wheels

Brooke scored with a Little Tikes Kitchen, tons of kitchen accessories (food, dishes, appliances), a dr kit, a Cabbage Patch, and lots of dress up things.

Brooke Playing in her Kitchen

Selfish Mommy was the one who really made out like a bandit, though.  I totally won the present lotto with a waffle iron, a wine rabbit, the new Garmin 410 running watch, a Dell Inspiron 15R,  a Coach Poppy Signature wristlet, 3 Calphalon cookie sheets, and a Calphalon One 2.5 qt sauce pan.  Fine, some of it I bought myself….whatevs

Selfish Daddy won the XMas loser’s bracket with nada.  He claims he prefers it this way, so I like to think he got exactly what he wanted.  I am sure he will buy himself something nice…..he always does.

We had a post-Christmas trip to visit my grandmother, my Mom’s mom.  It was a lovely visit and definitely a requirement as she is not doing well.  I am glad my kids got to see her & just hang out.  Out of the 9 great grandchildren, Brooke is the only girl & quite possibly the last one she will get to meet. Upon our return, we promptly packed up Christmas inside & out.

We had a nice, low-key New Year’s celebrating not only the New Yr, but also a 40th Birthday with good friends.