Holidays

Merry Christmas from our Family to Yours. Hope you all are as equally blessed as I am to be surrounded with such Joy! Looking forward to a Crazy, not so relaxed 2013!

XOXO
The Shaws

S'mores Pops

I saw these over on Keller Kreative and then AGAIN on Charleston Girl this week. It is too HOT to have a fire and I am craving sweets like there is no tomorrow. All I need is my girls to come home to have more of an excuse to make these little darlings!

What you need:

• Marshmallows
• Wooden Skewers (I am grocery store challenged and after spending 10 min. looking for them in Publix, I gave up and got colorful straws in the Birthday supplies isle - they worked out just as well)
• Nestle semi-sweet chocolate morsels
• Graham Cracker crumbs
• Sprinkles! Lots and lots of sprinkles! (I went through about three small bottles of sprinkles - really depends on how many you want to use.)

Merry Christmas Eve!

Happy Halloween from Our Family to Yours

Very happy with our DIY costumes this year! We have a spider monkey, a gumball machine, an 80's chick from Chicago and a Lumber Jack. Kind of sad this may be one of the last Trick or Treating experiences with the girls. Next few years they won't be at my house for Halloween then they will be Too Old and Too Cool for us. Happy with the moments we do have together!

Here was Baby Boy at school before Trick or treat

Five Ways You Are The Best Husband, Father, and Friend

1. You are a fabulous daddy to our children! You plays with them, snuggles with them, take care of them (even changing diapers!), talk to them, and teach them. They are so blessed to have you as their daddy.
2. You are a diligent provider. I know that you will never just decide to quit your job because you are tired of working so hard. You makes sure that our needs are met.
3. You spends your free time with me and the kids. You don’t run off to spend all your time with “the guys”. You actually enjoy being with us.
4. You ARE supportive! You will encourage me and the kids to try something even if we feel we cannot succeed. You make my dreams and goals feel worthy.
5. You are curious and adventurous. you love to try new foods, go new places, learn new things and challenge yourself. I love that you are willing and eager to try new things even if it is purely for my own desire. You will always try something once without hesitation before saying you are not interested.

Thanks for being you. Thanks for always being there. Thanks for making my dreams come true.  XoXo

Birthday's, Father's Day, Friendship Oh My!

Happy Father's Day to my Husband! Happy Birthday to my Husband. Isn't he lucky that he gets to celebrate his first father's day on his birthday? I think so. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful man in my life. We have quite an explosive relationship but I would never changeit for the world.

We had a very busy weekend.  Here are just a few snapshots.

Hangin at the Pool

Trying to keep little man  still .. he learned to crawl this week

Naptime with Daddy

Yummy Wine at Birthday dinner with Friends at Tristan

Dinner Kiss

Happy Birthday to the Trifecta ... David, Mike and Christy

My Birthday Present to Mr M... Chef's Table at SNOB. DELISH

 I hope everyone had as good of a weekend as we did. My Father's Day present will be coming soon.

Our Weekend Roundup

Happy Monday! I love summer time! Wish i could spend more of it at home with the kiddos but I do the  best I can while I can. Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. Here is a sneak peak into ours.

MrM and LilMan at his 1st baseball game

Momma and LilMissJ at the Riverdogs Game

Loving on his Daddy

Nothing says Summer like pool time with friends

Someone thinks he's king of the castle -- See the Tile that's our new project

Morning reading time. Yep that is Star Wars

My girls at Yamato Japanese Steakhouse

Pool time

Tuckered out time

I am so blessed to have a great family to make such wonderful memories with. Just a little sneak peak into our weekend.

ZWOW #17 Tasty Tuesday

Watch "Zuzana Light - ZWOW # 17 5-10-2012" on YouTube
12 Min AMRAP
5 Wall Walks
10 Wall Lunges
15 Plank Wall Touches
20 Wall Sits with March

Completed 3 rounds, 15 Plank Wall Touches in 12 mins. It was awesome.

Still going to run 2.75 miles to CrossfitMtPleasant then do tonights WOD.

Saturday's Epic WOD a la moi

All my CrossFit Mt Pleasant buddies got to endure this little beauty.

SATURDAY, MAY 5, 2012

EPIC WOD THANKS TO KELLEY SHAW!!!!!! LOVE THIS!!!!! LET’S GET TO IT AND DO IT!
8:30AM AND 9:30AM CLASSES TODAY!
“KELLEY”
150 BURPEES
150 PUSHUPS
150 BOX JUMPS
150SQUATS
BREAK UP HOWEVER YOU WISH
3 Rounds of 50, 5 rounds of 30, 10 rounds of 15 or 15 rounds of 10.
SEE YOU AT THE BOX!

Finished 36:41 - 3 rounds of 50 I was done and done! PLUS I ran the 2.68 miles to the gym 1st! Thanks to my GF Amy for taking me home. There was no running left in me.

This little workout was all inspiration from FitVillains

BURPEE MADNESS & Total Body Murder

This was my workout yesterday and WOW. Wow. It was seriously tough.

Normally soreness takes 24 hours to ‘set’ in, but this little combo has me feeling the burn early. I woke up this morning feeling it EVERYWHERE.

Yes. :)

Challenge: try it! It’s tough, but do-able. You can modify any of the moves to suit your level/needs.: step back instead of jumping for the burpees, use body weight for the squats, do modified pushups, and do step-ups/squats for the box jumps.

Advanced: fewer rounds, higher reps.

Beginner: more rounds, lower reps.

*I used 15lb dumbbells for the squats. Weights are optional though.

Round Options

• 3 rounds of 50 reps each
• 5 rounds of 30 reps each 
• 1 round of 50, then 5 rounds of 20
• 10 rounds of 15 reps each
• 15 rounds of 10 reps each

KILL IT. :) Let me know how it goes!

Thirsty Thursday (a day late)

I am thirsty for some workouts!! I have been struggling to find the time (and energy) to go to my Gym CrossFit Mt Pleasant. I have been scouring the web to find workouts that I can do at home. Hoping that I would be able to carve out some time to workout. That is not happening either. So I am holding myself accountable here. This is not a workout blog so I am doing it for my own personal benefit and if you see anything you like go ahead and try it. It really does look fun so far.

Today -- 2 workouts ... WHAT! yep that is right 2.
First - BodyRock.tv is starting a 30 day Challenge for May. So I did day 1 - Fit Test. It kicked my Booty. Let me interject here about BodyRock. These women are amazing looking. There is no way I will ever be this fit. I can sure try but I can't picture it.

Day 1: Fit Test - Beginner. Even though I have been Crossfitting for almost 2 years now. 50 seconds on 10 seconds off 4 exercises 3 rounds. Easy right -- NOT.
Squats
Push Up
Dips
Abs
Not bad. My arms were burning during the push ups and dips. This  right here is why I know  going to my gym is better than home workouts. I can slack off at home.

Workout 2: B'in Burpees. i only had 15 mins left at lunch so I did 1 Round in 4:43

FitVillains

I am really liking this site for workouts.

Now all I need to do is figure out how to get better at Clean Eating. I am trying but I am so easily tempted.


***I started this yesterday but I had a sick lil man so this was put on the back burner.

GOTCT: Get Off The Couch Tuesdays

Hello lovelies!
There was no Case of the Mondays around here yesterday. I lit a fire that will not be put out easily. I have found a new obsession... FitVillains. I love her workouts, her videos she posts, everything. MrM keeps asking me what I am doing on the computer -- umm I am planning my next workout.

So, GOTCT is my first workout.

Fit Villains

Today at lunch, I only had time to complete 2 rounds in 18 mins. That is still 680 Reps - not too shabby. I do work where I cannot be completely stinky all day long.

The kids have been keeping me really busy lately so I have been trying to find other ways to continue my love for Crossfit. This way I can do it at home with my kids or alone, but that never happens. Wanted to share this little workout with all you other busy folk out there.

GOTCT - I was looking for a nickname for Tuesday. I kind of like it! There is already Case of the Mondays, Humpday, TGIF.... Now what to do about that  Thursday?

Are we back yet???

Our view from our 1st Hotel The Intercontinental

I am back but  my body feels like it is in limbo somewhere else. Guess where I was??? Yep Paris. My trip of a lifetime happened and it was AMAZING.

I am trying to get back to normal - working, taking care of the kids, reading emails, cleaning the house, etc but  it is hard. I haven't read a blog in almost a month!! It is a Weird sensation. This is my attempt to get back into the swing of things. I took over 2500 pictures in France. All I need to do is edit them so I can share them. Everyone keeps asking me for pictures, so here are a few Mr M sent me my first day back to work.

Notre Dame - April 7th - closed for Easter Services

The Opera - right next to our Hotel.

Me at the Eiffel Tower at midnight

The Steps of the Sacre Coeur

Je Suis Moi - Marathon de Paris - in 5 years this will be me

I am happy to be back. I missed the kiddos and baby so much. Nanny and Grampy took good care of them while we were gone. Hoping  to be more of a familiar face around here. Now I need to get to the GOOD pics from France.

Our weekend in Charleston

Hi All!!! It has been a while - I know. We have been so busy lately and I have not been crafty lately. I am not even doing  anything  special for Easter. I know the horror!

I have managed to do a few things...

Carmen and I before the race

Waiting for the Race to start 1 Hour Late!! look at all these people

I know all these people are WALKING.... this was a late in the game shot of me about 30+ mins after I finished. The Girls were upset they didn't see me in the race so I jumped back in for an action shot.

PR on the Bridge Run for me... Official time 1:02:45  Yippie! fun Fact out of the 37 other Shaw's only 6 of them had a faster time and none were more than 5 mins faster.

Week 2 Paleo Challenge and 30 days of Crockpot Meals

I have survived week one. I have  made Slow Cooked Cumin Pork, Paleo Brownies, and Paleo Macaroons. Tonight I am having the girls  over for dinner for Paleo Sheppard's Pie. I came across this  little link today and thought it would be helpful to you all!

Go over  and Check out  Holly's listing of 30 Crockpot Paleo Meals!! This  week I am going  to make Slow Cooked Roast Chicken and Gravy. Yum!! I am also going to make Paleo Bison Burgers. I do not  know what Bison is BUT I will figure  it out  before I get  to the  grocery store.

Breakfast was  a huge  challenge for me last week. Stay Tuned as I found a recipe for Blueberry Muffins. I will let you know how they turn out.

Have  a great week.

Photography Giveaway

Anyone want to win a Free Photo Session? I do! Well head on over to see Julia Ryan's beautiful work and enter her giveaway.

And there are even extra chances to win!

paleo diet day 2 dinner

paleo diet day 2 dinner, a photo by AdventureOfShaw on Flickr.

So my gym is having a challenge... a Paleo challenge.

First up -- take a picture of myself in a bikini ...ummmm not yet. I got the email last week with all the details for the 30 day challenege. 30 days -- I can do this right??
Day 1 * had all the best intentions in the world. I will be honest here. I brought ALL Paleo freindly foods. Even researched NON egg related beakfast because I did not want to get them from the cafeteria. But I FAILED... yep I said it....FAILED. I ate girlscout cookies and not just one but MANY. Then my daughter came down with the stomach bug SO .... we had soup. That was not Paleo.

DAY 2 *** Winner because I didnt eat anything :) I did cook Slow Cooked Cumin Spiced Pork. It was delicious. I am so excited to make it and have it for lunch. Thanks to Sarah for this recipe.

Cumin Spiced Slow Cooked Pork

2 lbs of Pork Loin (I used 2 – 1 pound loins)

Cumin, Sea Salt, Pepper

1 tablespoon coconut oil

1 yellow onion, sliced

2 cups sliced mushrooms

Sauce

1 1/2 cups green or red salsa (I used the salsa verde from Trader Joe’s)

1 1/2 cups strained tomatoes

1 tablespoon Cumin

3 garlic cloves, minced

Sea salt and black pepper to taste

In a large skillet, heat the coconut oil over medium to medium high heat.  Sprinkle the pork on all sides generously with salt and pepper and then with the cumin powder.  Use your fingers to rub the cumin into the pork loin.  Sear the cumin spiced pork in the hot coconut oil for about 3 minutes per side or until the pork is nice and brown all the way around.  Move the pork from the skillet to the slow cooker and top with the sliced onions and mushrooms.  In the same pan that you seared the pork in, add the salsa, strained tomatoes, the 1 tablespoon of cumin, and garlic, and whisk together until bubbly.  Taste and season with salt and pepper if desired.  Pour the sauce over the pork, onions, and mushrooms in the slow cooker and cook on high for 5-6 hours or on low for 7-8 hours.

Bon Apetit!

My enntire family loved dinner and I cannot wait for Desert.
Here is too the rest of the week!

Fox Hollow by Monaluna

I am swooning.... Picturing LilMan in some organic Cotton very soon. Well in May when the fabric is released!

I love the little Foxes. The mustard yellows, oranges, reds and blues. This will be very boy oriented in our home. Monaluna wil release this fabric coming in May.

March Photo A Day

Thanks to FatMumSlim for putting this together. I HOPE to do better in March. I still plan on going back and doing all the days I haven't done yet so I can have a year of photos. Hoping and Doing are 2 completely different things for me.

Here is my day 1. UP ....
I constantly sit here at my desk looking at a computer screen. I have tried to bring in little pieces to make me smile every once in a while when the day becomes to mundane or overwhelming.
So here are my UP's

My Favorite thing to look up to all day long... Of course it never looks like this but I know they are hiding in the background.

Beautiful drawings from my girls, Love notes from my husband and family photo mixed among my work things.

A little slice of heaven in the corner of my office.

What does your UP look like?

Hey There!

One of our Lacrosse Stars

We have been really busy around here lately with new sports, family visiting and vacation planning. Oh and Sewing!! Here a sneak peak.....

Remember the Make This  Look post? Well I am almost done!! I have found another blogger out there who is making my same look. I have asked her assistance on the neckline. Hoping mine turns out as well as hers. Thanks Mary. I am doing OK on my goal of only buying patterns / fabric for one project at a time. I did however cheat and order a pattern to make this dress next! I am loving Jamie Christina patterns.

I saw this beauty displayed over on Hello Beautiful where she has made this dress at least twice! I am loving the Navy and Lime jersey knit.
Moving On..... Dana has the best boys tutorials. This Friday is Dr. Seuss Day at school. LilMan needs some new shirts and I wanted to play with the 90 minute shirt tutorial. So I took 120 minutes and made a shirt from on old College Bar T-shirt. Appropriate right? I had already used Dana's tutorial to make him Dr Seuss pants.

I think he is going to look adorable tomorrow!! At least this time all the seams met up and there are no holes in the arm pits. I did make one mistake -- one of the sleeves in inside out. Ughh.