Sunday, April 5, 2015

Strawberries + Yogurt....

Growing up every year we would sell MacMillans cookie dough and muffin dough to raise money for our school. My favorite was the Strawberry Yogurt Muffin dough.. yes the dough. I liked the muffins but I would sneak spoonfuls of the dough when my mom wasn't looking.
The other day while grocery shopping I came across Strawberry Yogurt muffins in the grocery store, so I picked them up for the girls to try and they LOVED them. It brought me right back to my obsession over them!

I decided to try to make a healthier version then the ones I found in the store. Here is the recipe.

Ingredients
1 1/3 cups of all purpose flour
3/4 cup of sugar
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1/4 teaspoon of ground nutmeg
2 eggs lightly beaten
1/2 cup of fat free plain yogurt
1/4 cup of butter, melted and cooled
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups of fresh or frozen strawberries coarsely chopped

Directions
1. In a small bowl, combine the first four ingredients. 
2. In another bowl, whisk the eggs, yogurt, butter and vanilla. 
3. Stir into the dry ingredients just until moistened. 
4. Fold in strawberries.
5. Fill muffin cups coated with cooking spray or lined with paper liners two-thirds full. Bake at 375° for 15-18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack. Serve warm.

 Yield: 1 dozen full size or 36 mini

We are huge fans of mini muffins in our house because they are the perfect size for the girls and they are easy to pack in lunches or to grab when we are running out! I prefer the mini muffins to help with my sweet tooth. I get the little bit of sweetness without over indulging.

Safe to say these are a hit with the little ones and with mommy too!


Sunday, March 29, 2015

Beth Turns One

Wow!
Almost a month ago this little one that gave me a run for my money in the last few months of pregnancy turned 1!!
The past year went by so fast, she is not walking yet but she has taken a few steps here and there, the most being 3 in a row. She is doing things on her own terms and that is how its been since I was pregnant! We had a scare around 32 weeks that she had stopped growing and after some steroid shots and a little bit of rest the girl shot up 2lbs and made her grand entrance!

We celebrated Madison's first birthday in 2012 with a cake smash photo shoot, here is my favorite shot from that shoot!

So of course I couldn't pass it up this time around! 
I went into the shoot thinking that Elizabeth would love it and would smash the cake to pieces.. boy was I wrong. She hated it! She didn't like the texture of the icing.. but our amazing photographer Francesca from Little Whimsies Photography did an amazing job at calming her down and getting some great shots!! 
I am so happy to be able to share these with you, as you have watched her grow from being "baby Murray #2" with all my pregnancy updates to her own monthly updates and now a happy, determined little girl FULL of personality!
She also looks a lot like her big sister.

So here you go! Enjoy :)



 This gold chain was all that would keep her happy after the touched the cake!




 And finally my personal favorite of all the photos, as mean as that may be. 

Saturday, March 28, 2015

Get to know me

I have been blogging for almost 3 years now, crazy! I thought it would be fun to do a 21 questions type post!  Enjoy!

1. Are you named after anyone? I remember my mom telling me Kimberley is one she mentioned along with other soap opera names.. Kim Brady from Days Of Our Lives and my dad liked it! My middle name Jay is for my maternal grandfather. I take great pride in being named after him. I an proud to have passed that name down to the daughter.

2. When was the last time you cried? I cried at 3am Saturday morning when Beth had a hundred and 103.7° Fever and wouldn't stop shaking. I was crying because I felt so helpless. Thankfully she is fever free now!

3. Do you have kids? Yes.. 2!

4. If you were another person, would you be a friend of yourself? Of course!! But, I would be sure to bring coffee if I visited before 9am :)

5. Do you use sarcasm a lot? Yes, not as much as I used to.. Which is good!

6. Will you ever bungee-jump? No, had I been asked that 10 years ago my answer would have been hell yes! Maybe when the girls are bigger and if they want to I would go with them but not at the moment. 

7. What’s your favorite cereal? Honey Nut Cheerios!

8. What’s the first thing you notice about people? Eyes.. Which then makes me look at their nose and if it's straight or not.  I blame it on the fact I had a small curve in my nose that bugged me but other people would say they couldn't see. 

9. What is your eye colour? Blue/ Green

10. Scary movie or happy endings? Happy movies please!

11. Favorite smells? Bacon!! And my moms chocolate chip cookies!

12. Summer or winter? Summer .. I like being able to walk and be outside and of course the beach and pool and bbqs. 

13. Computer or television? Computer because I can watch TV on my computer if I need to. 

14. What’s the furthest you’ve ever been from home? The Canary Islands in 2005. 

15. Do you have any special talents? I can knit if that counts!!

16. Where were you born? Canada!!

17. What are your hobbies? Reading, blogging, running and anything with my family.

18. Do you have any pets? Yes a 5 year old lab mix that we adopted right before our honeymoon

19. Favorite movie? Top Gun and The Breakfast Club.

20. Do you have any siblings? Yes… 2 younger brothers 

21. What did you want to be when you grow up? I wanted to be a journalist, I would never have guessed I would be working at a preschool!!

Well there you have it a few things about me!





Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Jammin' nails

A few weeks ago I was contacted by on Instagram by Chelley Schoeller, (@Michelleschoellerjam)  a Jamberry Consultant. I am someone who LOVES having her nails done, going to the nail salon is my "me" time and over the last few years I have perfected my skills. 
I had heard of Jamberry before and actually follow a few other consultants on Instagram but Chelley was the first to reach out to me, so we started chatting and decided I would test out the nail wraps and post about it and we would do a give away!!! 

I couldn't have picked a better week to test them out if I tried. The wraps were put to the test between making play dough and slime at school to bathing, washing dishes, giving the girls baths and even our dog!!

The nails arrived in this adorable envelope that immediately got my attention and I ripped right into it!

In the envelope I found directions, a cuticle pusher, a nail file, a rice bag, alcohol sheets, a sample and the manicure wraps in Serendipity! 

It was a Saturday night and Chris was working so as soon as the girls went to bed I got to work! 
Since I had just had a manicure the previous week I really didn't need to file or cut my nails so it made the process a little easier. 
The entire application process took me about 20min because I took my time and really made sure the wraps were the correct size and no bubbles formed!
I was very impressed with the final product, so impressed I decided to take a bath see how well they held up! 
If I had painted my nails with regular nail polish there was no way I could do that!
 
Working at a preschool and having 2 little girls I am constantly washing my hands! Getting paint off them, scraping playdough out from under my nails, playing with sand and just everyday stuff.. And at the end of the week my nails looked just as good as they did at the start!!! 
I wore the wraps a total of 8 days, the only reason I didn't keep them on was because I get bored easily and was ready for a change! They were easy to remove BUT what shocked me the most was there was NO damage to my nails!  

They remind me of a gel/ shellac mania cute because they last 2 weeks and they take zero time to dry. If you have ever had gel/ shellac you have seen the damage they can do. It was so nice to see my nails nice and strong!

I am definatly ordering more wraps for myself and for Madison and YOU CAN TOO!!! Click the link below to place an order for my show! 
 
The exciting part - every person that orders is entered into a draw to win 1 of these 2 accent nail sets!!

(winner will be contacted by email in 2 when the show closes).

Any questions contact Chelley - michelleschoellerjam@gmail.com

Sunday, March 8, 2015

12 months!

We made it.. Elizabeth's first year has come and gone. 

Weight: 17lbs 4oz

Length: 27 1/4inches

Milestone: she has figured out how to climb stairs at Mima and pops house! Also took her first flight.. And did amazing!!



Sleep: So much better. She's back to her 11 hr nights and 2hr naps! Having that final tooth cut has helped a lot!!

Eating: Anything and everything! Except icing.. Which we learnt the hard way at her cake smash:( she screamed and cried touching it .. She doesn't like the texture. 



Diapers: size 3s 
Clothing: mostly 9-12 months now.
Mood: Awesome!! She's always so happy!!  Only time she really gets fussy is when she's tired.

Loves:
  • Playing with her sisters toys 
  • Eating
  • Minnie Mouse and Mickey Mouse 
  • The pool
Hates:
  • Sitting still 
  • Still hates the bath which surprises me because she loved the pool in Florida!

This year has been incredible we've watched Elizabeth grow, we've watched Madison grow into an amazing big sister. To see them grow together is such a blessing. They are starting to play together and Beth has started to get excited when she sees Madison. 

Looking forward to another amazing year. 



Tuesday, March 3, 2015

A runDisney Princess In The Making - Part 3

3am Sunday morning came quickly!
I was asleep by 830 on Saturday night and didn't wake up until my alarm went off at 3am! I thought it would be tough to get up and find the motivation to get moving but it wasn't, I was up and dressed and ready to get on the bus in about 20 minutes!
I don't remember much of the bus ride to EPCOT, I think I took a quick nap! Once we got to EPCOT and started the walk to the pre race retreat area my nerves started to kick in. I wasn't sure what to expect as I had never run a half marathon and I had heard about the balloon ladies!

For those of you that haven't run a Disney race the balloon ladies are the last people to cross the starting line and keep a constant 16min mile pace. If they pass you, you are at risk of being swept- basically out on a bus and driven to the finish line. In reality I didn't have to worry about them because is started about an hour and 15min before them as I was in corral I and they were in corral P.

The walk over the starting line was about a 20min walk, before the race had even started I had already done 2.1miles. 

Once it was time for my corral I took a deep breathe watched the fire works and started my journey! 

Let's be honest the first 5 miles sucked. It was all on the highway with nothing to look at it. They had a few spots to stop for a picture with characters - the heros (Hercules, Aladdin, Flynn Ryder and someone else(?)), followed by the pirates.

The magic kingdom sign was a tease. It was still a little over a mile before you entered the actual park and not just the parking lots. 
 Once we founded the corner to Main Street I suddenly was hit with a wave of emotion. I knew I would be seeing Chris somewhere along Main Street and I knew there would be so many people cheering. It just gave me so much motivation to push through even though I was in so much pain from a blister on my little toe. 

When I saw Chris I ran over quickly threw my water bottle at him and kept going. We ran through Tomorrow Land, past the people mover, past the new mine train ride and then there it was .. The castle!! Anna, Elsa and Kristoff where on the balcony waving to everyone .. Slightly disappointed because it's Cinderella's castle so why wasn't she there?

Running through the castle was such a neat feeling! The maids were in the doorway cheering everyone one. I was truly amazed by the support from all the cast members at Disney. They were cheering for everyone even at 630am they were so happy and it really helped me in some spots! 
After the castle it was back to the roads. We ran past the golf courses, a bunch of resorts and again.. It was boring. It was starting to get hot out and we were looking right into the sun. 

At mile 8 I couldn't take it anymore, I had to stop. My foot was hurting so bad I was almost in tears with every step. I had a blister on my little toe on my right foot. I stopped at the medic tent for what I thought would be a 5min quick fix turned out to be an almost 25 full minutes with a lot of band aids and gel pads and some freezing cream.  Not only did I have a blister on the bottom of my toe, I had on the side of my foot and I couldn't get my shoe back on. Once we finally got it on I was off to finish the half. I really struggled the last bit because of my foot. I don't know why I got such horrible blisters as I had trained in the shoes I wore!  Oh well another live and learn thing!

At mile 11 we hit the last over pass into EPCOT and at that point I'm pretty sure my foot wasn't connected to my body anymore. It hurt but I couldn't feel it. It was the craziest feeling. Once we entered EPCOT and I saw the 12mile sign I kicked it into high gear and booked it to the finish .. My body wouldn't let me stop, almost like it knew if I had stopped running I would collapse. 

I had read on the blogs and Facebook groups about the gospel choir that you pass before the finish line and that was pretty awesome! Through out the race they had some different bands - drumline, highschool bands etc. A huge thank you to everyone who was encouraging us to finish the race it was great motivation!!

When I saw the finish line I was overwhelmed with crazy amounts of emotion, I didn't know if I should cry, or laugh or jump for joy! I did a little bit of all of the above. 

I crossed the line and was fighting back tears while I tried smiling but also trying to stay on my feet. I could hear Chris yelling, saying how proud he was off me. He also called me as I was walking to get my medal to say how proud he was that I finished and completed my goal! Cue the tears again.

After I finished I stopped for my official half marathon finishers photo and headed to get Glass Slipper Challenge medal! I did it! I kicked ass and could knock this off my bucket list as well and I completed a goal set a little over a year before!

Running through Disney world as the sun was rising was surreal. Being again to say I did it is surreal! I completed a half marathon!! It blows my mind!

When I finally caught up to Chris we headed over to the Team Noah tent to see my team Captain Rachel! Running with Team Noah was amazing, I can't say enough good things about the charity and everything they do. If you haven't heard about Noah's Protocol I highly suggest you check it out because if you donated to my page then you helped make Noah's Protocol possible! 

The bus ride back to the hotel was hell! I was in so much pain, I just wanted to soak in the tub and sleep. We got back to the hotel, I soaked my feet, struggled getting my flip flops on because of the blister and then we packed up and headed back to the resort my parents were at with the girls.
Sunday was gorgeous and a perfect day to sit by the pool with my family and just relax.
It was also the day I said I won't be doing it again. I finished it once I don't need to run another half... Well come Monday I was singing a different tune and plans were already being made for 2016 princess Half Marathon weekend with my mom!!!

It's going to be a tough year of training but with the support of my family and the fact my mom is also training is going to help me get through it, and knowing that I get to experience the awesomeness that is runDisney all over again makes it totally worth it! 

I have learnt so much over the past year and from the weekend .. Can't wait to get to work :) 

*** my official 10k and half pictures will be coming soon I am waiting for all of them to be identified before I order them and miss some!

Monday, March 2, 2015

A runDisney Princess In The Making - Part 2

The time has finally come and it quickly passed and I loved every exhausting minute of it! 
The race weekend started off with a visit to the Expo at ESPN Wide World Of Sports! Thursday afternoon mom and I headed over to check in and check out all the goodies. This is when it set in I was about to run at Disney World and run my first half marathon!  

The expo was a little overwhelming mainly because there was so much to see and being my first time there I wanted to see it all! First you go to one building where you check in, get your bib, t shirts, photo taken and then there are some booths on the main floor.
After building one mom and I headed over the main building to see everything!!! I wish I had the video off the gopro it was amazing! There was one booth in HAD to visit and it was Sparkly Soul! The owner is Pam- the lady whose post I saw a year earlier about the race that led me setting as a goal!!! It was so awesome to meet her and get some awesome new headbands. Girls, if you wear headbands check them out .. It didn't move at all! I wore them all week in the pool and everything. Never needed to readjust them!

Mom and I spent an hour walking the booths and we stumbled upon the runDisney booth that Jeff Galloway was at!! We got to meet him and he signed a copy of his book for my mom. I wish I had gotten a picture with him and mom oh well.. Next year!
After the expo we headed back to the camp ground BBQ and make some s'mores!

Because I was running for a charity I got 2 nights at Coronado Springs Disney Resort so Friday afternoon Chris and I headed over there to get some rest for Saturday morning!
We had a beautiful meet and greet with the rest of Team Noah and then headed to Downtown Disney for some food - bad idea it was packed, we at at the Irish place and went back and hit the sheets and get some sleep for the 10k!! But first I enjoyed a margarita- it was vacation after all!

2:45 am comes pretty fast especially when you can't fall asleep because you are filled with excitement and your so nervous about missing the bus or missing the race all together. Buses start headed to EPCOT at 3am so I figured I would get up at 2:45 get dressed and be on the 3:15 bus.. It worked out perfectly! The bus was fun! Everyone was excited and wide awake and ready to get to the race! 

Once you get to EPCOT there are tents set up for all the charities, back check tents, a medic tent, which at 4am is used for heat and rest. There was a massive stage with a dj who was leading a warm up dance party, and lots of Disney photographers everywhere... And lots and lots of tutus and tiaras!!

At 5am it was time to head to the corrals and get ready!! I was corral C (a-e) it was at this point I started regretting my decision to run, it was cold and the standing around sucked! But as the corrals started moving I started to get super excited!! Fireworks went off at the start of each corral!  Finally about 25 minutes after the first corral started we were at the starting line! 

The first part of the race was all on the highway so that part wasn't fun at all. It was rather boring. At mile 1 Anna and Elsa were hanging out on the overpass cracking jokes about it being so cold, there was even fake snow! 

There were characters along the route for photo ops - tinkerbell, mad hatter, Minnie Mouse ... I'm not sure who else, I didn't stop for any! 
There were parts of the route where the road narrows and in all those spots I got stuck behind walkers and it really slowed me down. Mile 2 also slowed me down because I had to wait in the porta potty line.
I don't remember what mile we at when we entered EPCOT, but the feeling I got was unforgettable! The music and the lake and the view was amazing. It made all those highway miles worth it! 

People were stopping everywhere to take photos.. I snapped the one above quickly ;)

The course was beautiful it takes you around the lake to the boardwalk where there were tons of people cheering us on and someone holding my favorite sign "Run like Kanye is going to give Beyonce your Medal", we ran past the beach club and yacht club where there kids waiting for high fives. After that it was back into the park for the last leg of the race!  

Once you round the final corner and you can hear the names being said at the finish line your energy picks up and you get a rush! I just wanted to cross that finish line!!  It was so awesome approaching the finish, it was more then just a line for me, it was a symbol of how far I had come in a year. I went from having baby #2 to starting running to running a 10k and getting ready to run a half marathon 24hrs later!!!
Notice the banana? I think I was more excited for that then I was for the medal at this point.

Chris was awesome he was up at 430 to catch a bus to watch the end of the race!! During the race he was sending me encouraging messages :) I couldn't have done this without him!

Running through EPCOT was surreal! It was beautiful and I got to see it in a way that not many do. I am so grateful that I had to opportunity to do this!! It has taken me a week to reflect on the race and to really appreciate it! The running portion wasn't easy but the feeling of accomplishment and ticking off another goal was amazing and made it totally worth it!

It was then time to catch the bus back to the hotel to get some sleep before we met my parents and the girls to spend the afternoon at EPCOT. Then it was early to bed (8am) to get up and get ready for the half!

Check back tomorrow