A tag of my own...

I thought I'd send around a tag of my own. People ask me all the time for fitness tips, how to lose weight, what are the best exercises to do, etc....so here is a few things I learned in my masters degree program (Exercise Physiology) eons ago and other things I've read or heard that I think work well...by the way, I am by no means an expert...this is just my opinion. Ok, here we go...

1. You need to exercise at least 30 minutes a day/5 days a week to see real (by real, I mean really good) benefits. More than an 1 hour a day is too much (increases chance of injury or burn out and is just crazy anyway). This exercise should be continuous and involve large muscle groups (legs). Running, walking, elipse machine, swimming, bicycling, etc...
2. You should lift weights. The more muscle you have the more calories you burn at rest. Fat does not burn calories (darn!). Jillian from the Biggest Loser is a big advocate of weight training (just look at her shoulders and arms!). I like more cardiovascular exercise because it is better for your health and heart, but I do agree that weight training is great to sculpt your body and for weight loss. ( I do 15 minutes a day is all)
3. When you exercise your heart rate should be higher than it is at rest. Ha Ha! I'm sure you've figured that out, but lots of people think they are exercising when they are just leisurely walking and talking and not getting much benefit. You should feel like you are exercising and want to be done ASAP! That is not to say, no pain no gain--but actually I think some pain or no gain. Heart rate should be at 70-80% of your max. Maximum Heart Rate=220-age, then multiply that number by .7 and .8--that will give you the range your heart rate should be in while exercising.
4. Don't overdo it!!! Anyone who wants to start exercising or lose weight needs to progress slowly. You will get injured or just burn out if you try to hard in the beginning. If you haven't exercised for a while, don't start with jogging. Walk.
5. Don't get discouraged if you don't see weight loss right away or you actually gain a couple pounds here and there. Muscle weighs more than fat. The body is adapting. Watch Biggest Loser--those contestants exercise 3-4 hours a day while they are on that show and sometimes they don't lose very much weight in a week. After a few months to several months, you will see results if you stick to it. Just stick to it!
6. Drink lots of water. Before, during and especially after working out.
7. Mix it up. I am very bad at this because I love running and that's all I would do if I could, but I've learned that mixing it up is good. Your body will try to adjust when you do the same thing every day, so you've got to trick it. It's you against your body! If you hit a plateau, especially, try a different exercise. So walk or run a few days and bike on the others or exercise on the elipse and swim a couple days, etc...
8. Exercise when it is easiest for you. I am a big believer in morning exercise, because as the day goes on there just seems to be more and more reasons why it is too hard to fit it in.
9. Make it as convenient as possible. I love having exercise equipment at home. I can just roll out of bed and hop on. Or just leave from your house to bike or run and loop around ending at your house again.
10. Just do it!! You know it's been on your New Year's Resolutions for years and years--it's on everyones! Just exercise--you will be so glad you did!!

That's all. Again, I'm not the expert, just my two cents. I tag Steph to reveal her knowledge and two cents on decorating tips. I tag Jen to reveal her knowledge on the best places to visit in Utah (weekend trips, camping etc..) and I tag Brittany to reveal her top 10 fashion tips. Thanks!! Love this tagging stuff. (By the way, if you want to leave comments you click on the time at the top of the post).

Products Tag

Tagged! I have actually been tagged a few times, but have forgotten to do them! I will repent of my wrong doings and will now do my blogger duty and fulfill my tag assignment...So here are the best products I've found in no particular order...
1. Neutrogena's oil-free eye makeup remover (removes even waterproof mascara--says so on the bottle)
2. Citre shine Anti-frizz serum---Scott is also a big fan of this, but don't tell him I told you. It smooths the hair nicely and adds shine.
3. Pantene Full and Thick Shampoo (and Conditioner)--for all of us thrifty gals.
4. NatureMade MultiVitamins for Her (or PreNatal when pregnant, nursing or planning on being pregnant soon). They come in bottles of 300 for only $12.99 at Costco. I have used them for 11 years now. Let's face it--who gets all the vitamins and nutrients they need in the food they eat each day?
5. Crest Whitening Rinse--Scott loves this. His teeth are very white and beautiful. I forget to use it regularly so my teeth aren't as white and beautiful.
6. Olay body wash--ultra moisture with shea butter. Who doesn't want to wash in shea butter?(whatever it is)
7. Bath and Body Works Warm Vanilla Sugar--anti-bacterial deep cleansing hand soap. Nice neutral tanish color
8. Marshalls---like TJMaxx. Has great shoes for a fraction of the cost. You can find great stuff for everybody and your home.
9. See's Chocolates--California Brittle (puts other brittle to shame!)
10. Loreal Voluminous Mascara (I'm with Brit here)
11. Secret Powder Fresh Deodorant (same as Jen)
12. Mac lipstick in Plum Dandy or Origins in Berry (more of a matte finish)

That's all! I tag all those who read this! I love hearing what everybody else has found to be great.

Love my hubby!

Scott has been out of town this past week and I've realized (well actually I've always known) that I never want to be a single mom! I'm sure my kids never want me to be their only parent too! Caleb and Ryan have been sick (of course when the doctors away!) and have been up all night! They both have been sleeping in my bed this entire week, so I have 2 inches of space on one side, Caleb is sprawled out in the middle and Ryan is doing gymnasts all night ending up in various parts of the bed. When they finally fall asleep, I can't sleep because I'm worried that Ryan will bonk into Caleb or fall off the bed (it's a long fall for those of you who've seen our bed). Needless to say, I'm tired! On top of that, Ethan has been a bear this week....yes, sweet perfect Ethan. I asked him what the problem was and he started crying and said,"It's so lonely when Dad is gone". Broke my heart! We are so excited to have him come home!

When I changed the template, I lost several pictures off the blog so I thought I'd put some of my favorite ones on while attempting to get the "comments" to come up. I give up...I'm blogger retardo! I can't figure it out. I've tried everything, so I guess it's just not meant to be. I'll just be left wondering what you think of my postings...

Here's Ryan showing a little skin for all his fans!

Ethan looks just like Caleb to me in this picture. Or is it the other way around? Caleb looks like Ethan in this picture.

Ahhh...back when life was easy--only 2 kids!

One of my favorite pictures of Ireland and Ethan. Look at those chubby legs on Ethan. Don't you just want to squeeze him?!

Ethan and Ireland. So cute! Back when they were perfect children! Ha Ha!

This is one of the few times Caleb has crawled on his knees! He's not athletically challenged after all! (Just kidding!)

Here's some live footage of Caleb. He can crawl now although it is more commando style than anything. He looks like he is an army guy avoiding enemy fire sliding on his belly using his elbows to slither along. He will get up on his knees on the carpet but once he's on the wood floors, he likes to slither. I finally learned how to record and download video from my camera, so go easy on this first attempt. (By the way, if you click on the time at the top of the post, you can make a comment. That is the best I can get it to do so far.)

This is another family picture we had taken. The one we sent out at Christmas, they enlarged to a 16 x 20 and it looked a bit blurry, not to mention they made Scott look like he had been attacked by a MaryKay makeup party, Ireland and Ethan had very manicured eyebrows, and the baby had on eyeshadow. We all looked a little freakish. So...we had them enlarge another one. This is what it will look like, but in color and more clear--hopefully they will lay off on all the touch-ups! They had to head transplant the baby and Ethan, so Caleb looks a little funny but oh well.

President Hinckley--We will miss you!!

Eleventh Anniversary!

Eleven years later...look what happens! It's been a great 11 years and we are so lucky to have 4 awesome kids!

Ahh....back when we were young and naive and had fewer wrinkles and less stress!

So Scott had a great birthday! The best part of his birthday was all the emails from his family about what they admire most about him. He got choked up several times reading them. Thanks so much!! He felt very loved. Happy Birthday Scott!! We love you and think you are the greatest dad and husband on the planet!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SCOTT!

Scott is still as fit as ever and has run 5 marathons and plans on running several more!

Scott is the leader of the clowns! I asked the Ireland and Ethan what they liked most about their dad and Ireland said, "I know that he loves me!" Ethan said, "I love it the most when he gives me hugs!" Ryan is the biggest daddy's boy of them all and cries when Scott is on call and isn't here to put him to bed. Caleb loves to be rocked to sleep by Scott. Scott makes the kids laugh all the time and is never too tired to play with them. We love him and are lucky he is ours!

Yeah, having a little trouble with the template. I am trying to get it so that comments can be made. We'll see if I end up being successful. So far--no go but it's a nice shade of blue.

Caleb is not too interested in baby food or nursing, he wants the good stuff!

Just a little note...I just want to say how much I appreciate electricity! We were without power for about 30 hours. At 5:00am yesterday the power went out and just came back on at 10:30am this morning. The schools were cancelled, so I had all the kids home to entertain all day long. It was a struggle. They played with tinker toys, legos, and K'nex. We organized all our toy bins, and went through all our stacks of pictures that had been boxed away. Then we all went outside in pretty frigid weather and they played while I strolled Caleb around the cul-de-sac about 50 times. Yes, we were bored! I did come to the conclusion that we would be a lot healthier and thinner if there was no electricity. No watching TV or movies, playing video games, surfing the net or baking cookies. No frying food or microwaving processed hot dogs or chicken nuggets. I think we even burned off lots of calories trying to keep warm. But, I think I'll take electricity over that and just exercise.

Taking a walk along the trail at Letchworth park.

Letchworth Park--Ryan looks like he is dangling on the edge of the cliff, but he's really not I promise. Caleb is somewhere? Not down the embankment. Must be sleeping in the car.

This is one of my favorite pictures of Ireland and Savannah. This should be an advertisement for princess costumes or something. Aren't they cute? Love it! By the way, I still can't get the "comments" to come up??

We just got some gift CD's in the mail from Scott's dad that had lots of great pictures of the extended Hacking family over past year (2007). It is so great to have (Thanks Doug!). Here is one of us at the Sacred Grove.

Caleb is almost 9 months and thinking about crawling. He has been a bear lately--I think a mouthful of teeth are getting ready to come in. He is getting big fast! Scott gave him a haircut last week. It looks nice and choppy and still sticks straight up (good thing we have gel!) but we still think he's a cutie!

This was on the front page of the main newspaper here in Rochester. It is our ward's primary children re-enacting the Nativity scene. It was at the barn of one of the families in our ward. Ireland and Ethan were in the play. Ireland is one of the angels and Ethan was the trumpeter announcing the birth of Jesus. Pretty great huh?

A little commentary...

So I realized that I have lots and lots of pictures and not much commentary. Not that you'd rather read my commentary than look at my cute kids, but maybe it would be nice to mix it up a bit. So I thought to start off the sure to be boring commentary I would tell a few little known details about each of us.
Ireland--Ireland likes to sleep hanging off the side of her bed. When I check on her at night she always has a leg dangling off the side of the bed. I think she uses maybe a foot long strip of her queen size bed. Ireland has the hairiest legs I've ever seen on a girl. I am so tempted to shave them, but she's only 7. She loves drama (I can't relate!). She askes me every every every single day before she leaves for school if I am going to be home when she gets home. Every day!! So I ask her every day if she is going to come home from school.
Ethan--Ethan sleeps with the comforter over his head. He sweats like a man, so this is not a good idea. I keep telling him not to put it over his head, but he says he is scared someone will break into our house and if he is "hiding" they won't get him--(Just the rest of us). Ethan loves Thai peanut sauce on everything. I've seen him dip everything from chips to pizza to a peanut butter sandwich in it. He loves to snuggle. Give him a blanket and he's good.
Ryan--Ryan loves chocolate milk. He would drink this and only this for every meal and snack. Food means nothing to him. He loves to chase Ethan around the house with a play sword. He is our only child(so far) that has written on the walls and furniture with marker or crayon, dented the wall by throwing toys down the stairs, and broken toys by throwing them up in the air and crashing them to the floor. Any damage done to the house--Ryan.
Caleb--Caleb does not love to snuggle. He likes to be held facing outward. When people come up to him and smile and want to touch his hand, he pulls it away. He laughs at Ryan and Ethan all the time, especially when they are chasing each other or throwing tantrums. He loves his crib and will go to sleep on his own if he's wrapped up in his crib. He drools all the time. Never had such a drooler? And no teeth yet!
Scott--Scott is a fanatic about keeping the yard green and free of any debris, mowed and edged perfectly, and the driveway free of any snow or leaves. He has gotten up before at 4:30 am to shovel the driveway and has raked or mowed the lawn several times in the dark after getting home late from work. Scott loves to snack on any kind of fruit (blueberries are his favorite). He sometimes gets out a bottle of water, a diet pepsi, and a glass of milk at the same time. Rarely does he drink them all at one setting, but for some reason he does this?
Me--I love babies! I would have lots and lots of them if I didn't have to be pregnant and could give them away between the ages of 2-3. I love milk. I drink about 8 glasses a day. I clean the house from top to bottom every day, but I'm not a duster. I forget to dust frequently. I like to stay up late, even when I know I'll be up several times a night with the baby. My favorite TV show is the Amazing Race. Scott and I comment frequently on how we would go crazy if we were contestants on that show. We are not good with frustrating situations.

Little Hackings! This is a picture of a picture, so I had to take it at an angle. Ryan looks huge and Ethan looks small. Ryan was a bear for this picture. He looks so cooperative, but he about fell in the canal several times trying to get out of getting a picture taken. We could only get him to sit and look at the camera by letting him have the stick and pretend to fish! Love 2 year olds!

Caleb 4 months ago with no hair! Now his hair is reddish and sticks up all over. I have to glue it down and paste it to the side.

Ryan--this was the best we could get from him. He wouldn't hold still or look at the camera.

Again, picture of a picture. Isn't he a cutie!

This is a picture of a picture, so it looks a little off, but the original is really cute. I will replace this one when I figure out how to scan or copy a better one.

Caleb's first winter. Got him all bundled up. He was so excited! Can you tell?

Ireland and Ethan couldn't wait to get out into the snow. Notice the leaves in the snow. Fall was not suppose to end yet! It is very cold here--20's. I have to admit, I love the snow, but only for about a month or two. I'm sure I'll have plenty of it in the next several months!

Ryan and Caleb looked thrilled about Santa! Ryan is trying to get away and Caleb is just bored.

Thanksgiving Day! I made the full Turkey day meal--rolls, potatoes, yams, jello salad, brocolli salad, corn, carrots, and stuffing. We had our friends, the Truscotts, over (they are vegan), so the huge meal was enjoyed by just Scott and I. The kids had a few rolls. Needless to say, we have lots of left-overs!

At the ripe age of 36 (almost 37), Scott decided it was time to take a step up in the car market and buy a Volkswagen Touareg. The Durango was going on 10 years old and every time he left for work (5:00am at times), the kids would wake up from the vroom, vroom of the Durango. So, agreeing to a change in cars for me meant a couple more hours of sleep. Although I will miss being able to hear him coming home from work from a couple miles away.

Halloween 2007, Ethan was a Ninja, Ryan refused to wear anything but PJ's, Ireland was a Snow Princess for the 2nd year running (We actually forced Ryan into a pirate costume that he promptly took off the second we got home). They had lots of fun trick or treating. Especially Ryan, who was so excited that he would run into our neighbors houses when they opened the door to give him candy. After we pulled him out, he would take off to the next house, but in his excitement he would trip and all his candy would go flying. He did that about 5 times. Scott and I had a great time watching him!

September/October Highlights

Scott, Ethan and Ryan at the Joseph Smith Barn in Palmyra, New York.

We've been so lucky to have lots of company over the last month! Chad, Bren and Aden came to visit over Labor Day weekend. Julie, Will, and Alyssa came to visit the last week of September. My mom, Lorenne, Jen, and my nieces McKenzie and Mia came to visit the beginning of October. And Doug and Janet came to visit the second weekend in October. We went to Niagara Falls, Letchworth State Park, Brown's Berry Patch, Powers Farm Market, Stokoe Farms, Church History Sites, Bristol Mountain, Naples, and Strong Museum. We also took the paddleboat out on the Erie canal. We've stayed up late, eaten lots of unhealthy foods, and had a great time!! Thanks for coming to see us!

Hacking Highlights

Caleb at 6 months. Eyes turned green!