July Walking Goal and Breakdown

Okay, so my June goal (for the second half of June) was slightly over 7000 steps a day (to make it a nice round number). I averaged almost 7800 steps a day! However, because of lazy days I have other days with LOTS of walking. But I'm definitely getting more fit, and now I get fidgety if I don't walk enough in a day!

My goal for July is 8500 steps a day, which is 263,500 steps for the month. Could be interesting because of some vacations we have planned to HOT areas, but I'm going to do my darndest to make it!

July 1: 5159 steps. I was totally shocked, since I spent 9 hours in the car! Apparently packing and loading the car is a lot of walking. And the fun thing is we get to do it again VERY soon...

July 2: 8032 steps. Hanging out with the in-laws, went to see Brave and walked to the park and back after dinner.

July 3: 6917 steps. Playing with the kids.

July 4: 8303 steps. Apparently walking the Independence Day festival was a lot of steps! Too bad the festival was pretty lame...

July 5: 4684 steps. So it seems like wine tasting tours don't involve much walking, especially with a chauffeur! But boy was it fun...

July 6: 3362 steps. Hanging out with the in-laws means not much movement.

July 7: 6667 steps. Packing and leaving to drive home. I'm still shocked at how much walking is involved with packing suitcases!

July 8: 6536 steps. We didn't get home until 4am, so I definitely didn't get any extra walking in.

July 9: 3370 steps. Totally lazy day! Princesa misses her big brother and sister (and all the spoiling from the grandparents), so she's been literally attached to me all day!

July 10: 6284 steps. We took a walk down to Walgreens (pretty much solely to get a walk in), but it's too hot to do much else!

July 11: 4548 steps. It's crazy hot outside and I don't want to so anything!

July 12: 5928 steps. Cleaning house because we're having game night tomorrow!

July 13: 5234 steps. Still cleaning house, canning pepper jelly and playing games until the wee hours of the morning.

July 14: 4768 steps. We drove own to Pismo Beach to pick up the kids from my in-laws (meeting halfway between the two houses and getting a beach weekend out of it :-)

July 15: 3603 steps. Driving home from Pismo Beach, and I messed up my knee badly. Note: Do not stand outside your car and lean across your seat to get something if it's windy. The door will slam on your leg and jack up your knee!

July 16: 2873 steps.  I spent the whole day with my knee propped up and iced.

July 17: 4938 steps. Slowly starting to move around, but my knee is swollen and can barely hold weight.

July 18: 5434 steps. Still messed up.

July 19: 5405 steps. I've been babying my knee so much that now my other one hurts (and my back is sore too).

July 20: 5326 steps. Hanging around the house and driving the kids to summer camp.

July 21: 5648 steps. We had Lego Saturday, so I spent the day on the floor building Legos.

July 22: 3547 steps. So sore it hurts to walk. I'm definitely not going to reach my goal this month, but with my knees so messed up it's not going to happen.

July 23: 7432 steps. Slowly trying to work my way back to walking. We'll see.

July 24: 7133 steps. Achy and sore but I have to keep at it.

July 25: 3939 steps. The kids are fighting like mad, so nothing fun is happening.

July 26: 2623 steps. Sat with ice on both knees. I threw out my other knee favoring the hurt one.

July 27: 6870 steps. Shopping for baby stuff with my best friend. Nice to visit but I'm exhausted and hurting!

July 28: 6234 steps. Started working on the craft closet (post to follow).

July 29: 8081 steps. Finished the craft closet! Now to finish organizing!

July 30: 4396 steps. Organized a metric boatload of craft supplies. I have enough to start a school!

July 31: 6022 steps. Finishing the cleanup from the craft closet and gathering things to paint my bedroom.

Total of 169296 steps for the month, with a goal of 263500. I knew it would be a tough month because of a week of vacation (where it's hot and my MIL feeds us constantly), but messing up my knees (which have been a problem since high school) really threw it off. Hopefully next month will be better.

Our 6 mile journey...

With 6 kids, 4 scooters and 2 strollers...

An awesome friend of mine and I took our kids for a 6+ mile hike/walk today. We were all wiped out when it was over, but it was an AMAZING hike!

 Sadly it's kind of brown here now (like it is all over the western half of the US!)

We found this palm tree growing UNDER the 101 freeway! In an area with almost no sunlight. It's amazing what plants can do, especially since I still manage to kill every one I touch!

 We found two of these little shacks

which had these inside them. Any ideas what they are???

 And I'm imagining someone running along behind their horse with a GIANT blue poop bag! wowzas!

What great hikes have you taken lately?

Norwegian Cruise Line Kids Sail Free!

Kids sail free this fall on Norwegian Cruise Line. Book a select Fall 2012 cruise between now and July 7th and kids under 18 sharing your stateroom as a third or fourth guest sail free. Think of all the amazing cruises you and your kids can take!

Book before July 7th to take advantage of this sale here.

We took a Norwegian Cruise for our honeymoon and LOVED it! They're very family friendly and the Freestyle Cruising concept is perfect for families.

* Disclosure: I was entered for a chance to win a Norwegian Cruise Line vacation for posting for this post.  No monetary or product exchange took place.

White Collar Season 3 DVD Giveaway

You could win White Collar Season 3 DVD set!

Enter on the Rafflecopter form below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

*This giveaway is not associated with anyone and is not sponsored by any company. This is just little old me giving away DVDs!

Giveaway is open to 18 and up, US only

Giveaway ends July 8 at 9:01pm PT

It has descended upon our house...

The quiet, that is!

I love how quiet it is after we get home from the library. For a couple of hours I can do laundry, dishes, cook and enjoy myself without any fighting. No extra messes to clean up, no cranky kids. Everyone is sitting and reading their new books!

Wordless Wednesday... The Beach

Homemade Apple Butter Recipe

The weekend before last, even though it was 96 degrees outside (and mid-80s inside), my house smelled like fall. I spent Friday and Saturday making and canning apple butter. In hindsight, I'd look at the weather forecast better before I started, because it made my house hot AND muggy on Saturday with all the water boiling! I do NOT do humidity well... I've lived in the Bay Area in California my whole life and I'm used to pretty temperate weather.

This is a Crockpot Apple Butter recipe, adapted from Food Network.

Peel, core and chop 3.5 lbs of Granny Smith and Gala apples. The recipe calls for cutting into small chips, but I gave up quickly and ran them through my food processor on the grater mode. 

Add 2-47 ounce jars of unsweetened applesauce, 4 cups of sugar, 1 1/2 cups apple juice, 1 TB cinnamon, 1/2 tsp ground cloves and 3/4 tsp allspice. Stir well and turn Crockpot on low and cover overnight (or for 8-10 hours).

This is what it looks like after 

about 10 hours on Low.

 The recipe says to leave it chunky, but I like it smoother and ran it through my immersion blender. You could also do it in batches in a regular blender. Add the zest of 1/2 a lemon. Uncover and cook for about 12 more hours. It's best to prop it open or turn the lid sideways so it's partially uncovered, because it splatters.

When it's done, it's reduced by about half.

To see if it's done, put a spoonful on a plate. Let sit for a couple minutes. If it runs it's not done. Let it cook some more.

Once it's done it will not run along the plate and it will maintain its height when you put a spoonful down.

Sterilize your jars, lids and rings. Here's some info on canning apple butter, since I'm not an expert by any means!

Fill the jars, boil again and let them cool. The original recipe says it yields 12 pint jars, but it really makes about 9 or 10 half pint jars. 

Delicious on toast, peanut butter sandwiches, pancakes or waffles, scones, and tons of other things (and the kids love to eat if with a spoon, since it's basically thick and spicy applesauce.

Here's the recipe in one blurb, in case you want to print it:


Crockpot Apple Butter

3.5 pounds Gala and Granny Smith Apples (a mix of both types, totaling 3.5 lb)
2 - 47 oz jars unsweetened applesauce
4 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups apple juice
1 TB ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
3/4 tsp ground allspice
lemon zest of 1/2 lemon

Peel and core apples and grate them. Put all ingredients except lemon zest in into slow cooker and stir. Cover and cook on low 8-10 hours. Remove cover, add lemon zest and blend apple butter smooth. Taste and add more spices or lemon if needed. Uncover and continue cooking for 10-12 more hours. Pour into sterilized jars and boil jars to seal. Enjoy!

Total time: about 24 hours
Yield: 9-10 8oz jars