She Runs By Faith

The past 12 weeks of the school year have flown by and we are taking full advantage of this Thanksgiving break week! The kids and I are capitalizing on outdoor time on Grandma and Grandpa's farm and making a few trips to the indoor hockey rink as well. We finished Term 1 just in time for this break and will be jumping into Term 2 come Monday. With this being our first school year using the A Gentle Feast curriculum created by Julie Ross, we are studying the Green Year (Cycle 1): Columbus, Conquests, and Colonies from 1000-1650 AD. Disclaimer: I am not compensated for this post but will receive a little $ if you use my A Gentle Feast affiliate link .  Thank you :) A Gentle Feast is a Charlotte Mason curriculum, geared towards the family learning together, consists of four main components: The Appetizer -  Bible study, poetry, picture and composer study along with recitation and fables/hero tales.  The Soup and Salad -  Language Arts Block - writing, readi...

Way back in the exciting Spring months of 2019 — you know, back when we had just conquered another long winter and the feeling of hope had returned — I set aggressive goals for the races to come. 2018 ended disappointingly on the running front after a severe hip flexor strain; so I was ready to get back at it and put the training lessons I learned in the previous year to work. I had three marathons in my sights and three goals to go with them. Goal #1: Run sub-3:15 at Fargo Marathon in May Finished in 3:16:32  on a wet, rainy and cold day; which wasn't quite on goal but I felt it was a complete success! Lots of happy checkmarks on that goal page in my Believe Journal. That was 5 minutes cut off my ancient PR from 2011. Finally! Goal #2: Run back-to-back (2 week) marathons  I ran the Grand Forks Marathon and Bemidji Blue Ox Marathon two weeks apart back in 2016 and wanted to do that again for some weird reason. I had one week to recovery and one week to bas...

What ended up being my worst ever taper week turned into the best outcome. That was Grand Forks Marathon 2019 in a nutshell for me. Parenthood is a blessed daily lesson in humility, it really is, and the past couple weeks were just another one of those lessons! Our youngest boy (23-month-old, can I just say he's 2 already?!) had a gunky cough and runny nose the past couple weeks. Then it passed on to 6-year-old. My husband and our 4-year-old both seemed to avoid getting this sick bug so I figured "Ah ha! My superior immune system helped me miss it too!" Think again there, Amy, think again. To sum up race week,  Monday felt "off" as we met for homeschool co-op; more tired than usual. Tuesday  = felt  bleh and then Wednesday I was pretty much useless. My neck was stiff, lymph nodes swollen, sinuses stuffed and I had a miserable headache. No cough, just a runny nose and PAIN. This felt like a sinus infection coming on so I drank water, some apple juice, so...

Summer has somehow slipped away and here we are, on the verge of returning back to school. Back-to-school brings about various reactions from parents. Relief, excitement and/or maybe some sadness? As a homeschooling mom, I feel like we're transitioning from the laid-back summer schedule back into "game on" mode. Our family thrives on routine but outdoor time was priority this summer. Summer t-ball, swimming lessons, fairs and park time was really refreshing. It had been a looooong winter! Now it's time to focus on school prep. Last year, I used My Father's World's Kindergarten curriculum along with Singapore's Earlybird Kindergarten Mathematics books for my oldest son, which was perfect for our first year of homeschooling. Now with E in 1st grade and W in preschool, we will be following  A Gentle Feast , a Charlotte Mason inspired curriculum that easily accommodates teaching multiple students. As I gathered books and resources over the summer, I h...

Recently the coolest hands-on STEM learning project arrived on our doorstep... Meet Artie 3000 The Coding Robot: Artie 3000, a coding robot by Educational Insight, makes coding a creative and fun process for kids. He comes with four washable markers and follows code to create designs! Along with the markers, a quick start guide and pre-coded design activity cards are included. Artie 3000 does require 4 AA batteries that are not included in his box. (Thankfully we have a plethora of those at home!) Our children are 6 years old, 4 years old and 1.5 years old, which is a little younger than the 7+ recommendation for this coding robot but we have still had a great time with him. The quick start guide is very easy to follow and set up is quick. Artie 3000 actually has a built-in WiFi server and connecting him to our Macbook Pro was a breeze. I expected the process to be much more complicated! Our first test run with Artie was his easiest pre-coded design: a square. We...

Disclaimer: I received Science in Sport Gels in exchange for my review as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador) and check out BibRave.com to review find and write race reviews! When it comes to fueling as runners, generally you're either a gel person or you're just not. The thick texture of some gels can be off-putting during a run but not all gels are not created equal! Recently, I have been using a style of gel that feels more lightweight and refreshing than pasty gels I have used in the past. Even if you consider yourself to be "not a gel person", I still recommend giving these a chance. Allow me to tell you a little bit about them and then Enter to WIN a pack for yourself! As a BibRave Pro, I received quite a load of Science in Sport Energy Gels - from the energy+electrolyte gels to energy+caffeine to isotonic - it's a wonderful variety. So what's the difference between all those gel types? Energy+El...

Disclaimer: I received free entry to the DC Wonder Woman Run Series as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review find and write race reviews! Races have been on a roll this Spring and the Wonder Woman Half Marathon was next on my list. I left for the race on Friday afternoon, picked up my sister-in-law, Danielle, in Grand Forks and then we were Fargo-bound! The expo was our first stop, followed by a trip to the Savers thrift store (of course!) The Wonder Woman Expo was pretty quiet around 5 pm when we arrived. Picking up our numbers and race packet was a quick process. Our Wonder Woman race kits were styled in true Wonder Woman fashion and the race photos and finishers video for this event were free. Yes, FREE! I received a race kit upgrade and decided to run in the golden Wonder Woman Visor. It was a little too warm for the caped socks. The rest of the expo had a dance floor set up and a bunch of Wonde...