Testing my limits

Some of you know I've been dealing with knee pain for the past few months. It came on slowly then started to get really bad. It hurt in the back of my knee only when running and lunging which I do a lot of! It started at about 3 miles and continued long after I was done running. I was not happy considering the 1/2 marathon I was training for.
I was referred to Elite Physical Therapy in Rehoboth. The Dr. Ordered 3-4 visits for 4-6 weeks. My first visit consisted of elbows digging into my butt and IT band. Fingers poking in my vertebrae, being stretched all kinds of ways with bands and then being hooked up to electrodes. They told me I was horribly tight and inflamed. Duh!!!I was then given a deep tissue massage with bamboo sticks. I was sore the next day to say the least.
They soon realized it was all coming from my back. Strange because I have never in my life had any kind of back pain(except when I was 55 lbs overweight with pregnancies). Specifically L3......I think. Anyway they dug so hard into that one spot in so many different ways. They had me run on a treadmill in only my sports bra.....did not love that one! They wanted to see my gait, which was fine. Then they poked me some more, made me run again, poked me some more, made me run again-even I was tired of working out.

The next day I had no pain! Yay!!!!

That was 3 weeks ago. I went today which was supposed to be my last visit. The Doc told me I had 30 visits left that would be covered by my insurance but I had to use them by the end of the year. So she told me to try to get the pain in my knee by pushing the limits. I wasn't expecting that! I had decided I wasn't going to run the 1/2 on Dec. 10 but now I'm not sure. I've only done one 7 miler in the past 2 months so I don't feel prepared at all.

And I'm not the kind of person to just "have fun" in a race. It's called a race for a reason.

So....tomorrow I'm going to get up around 5am and get on the treadmill until the sun comes up and then head outside to finish. Normally Wednesday is my day off but I guess not tomorrow. I have an appointment on Thursday and I'd like to tell her I tried to kill myself in the process of trying to recreate my knee pain. All the while hoping I DON'T recreate it. Hmmmmmm

Wish me luck!

Dark Chocolate Pumpkin Cookies

These cookies disappeared within minutes and they are very healthy. Vegan, natural and no white stuff! I'm going to give you the recipe I received and then my own twist on them.

To make them gluten free just switch up the flour. I think coconut flour would be good but I didn't have any.

1 cup butter                             1 cup coconut butter
1 cup sugar                              1 cup sucanat or organic brown sugar or maple sugar flakes
1 egg beaten  flax paste           I also added 1/2 tsp nutmeg, 1/2 tsp cardamom, 1/2 allspice
1 cup canned pumpkin
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 pack milk chocolate chips   80% or higher dark chocolate bar chopped into pieces.

For flax meal I add water to 1/4 cup of ground flax seeds and mix. It makes a pastes that replaces the egg in any baking recipe.


Preheat oven to 375. Cream softened butter and sugar. Add egg or flax, pumpkin, vanilla, and mix well. Sift dry ingredients and add to wet mixture. Add chocolate. Drop on cookie sheet and bake for 10-12 min.

Even my meat, dairy, and junk food loving husband liked them! Thanks for the recipe Elaine!!

Good Eats!

I wanted to share some of my new favorite recipes with you.  Don't make fun until you try them!

These are kale chips! Lucy and I love them, Cross and Trey like them and Ethan....well I won't tell you what he says:) All you do it cut up kale and saute them for a few minutes in coconut oil. Place them in the oven at 350 until crunchy. Then add sea salt and black pepper. Yummy!

kale chips

roasted butternut squash and garlic soup.

Chop up a butternut squash and place it on a tray along with garlic cloves. Sprinkle it with salt, pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, sucanat and olive oil. Bake at 400 until soft. While waiting on the squash saute carrots, celery and onion with coconut oil. Add the squash and bring to a boil. Add coconut milk. Blend it all together until smooth. I like to sprinkle it with chia or pumpkin seeds to add protein. I add some kind of nut or seed to everything these days. If you workout and want to build muscle without meat this is a must!

peanut kelp noodles


These are my all time favorite....the kids love them too because they taste like peanut butter.  Soak the kelp noodles with water and lemon juice. On very low heat mix brown rice miso, almond butter, little tahini, sesame oil and bragg's amino liquiod. Then add noodles and stir to combine ingredients. I like to add sesame seeds to up the iron....Ironmom's need iron:)

Gluten free pasta and bread. Coconut ice cream and oil. And mint chocolate water.


So my friend Brian called me out on my Ezekiel bread from my last food post. Yes it has gluten! I'm not a purist and I'm not giving up Ezekiel bread thank you very much. But I do love this rice bread.


The water has chocolate "essence" so there is not junk in it. I LOOOOve this stuff.


The ice cream speaks for itself. Coconut + vanilla=so delicious...hence the brand name.


I would love to hear about your clean recipe's! Especially the ones your kids love!

Thankful Thanksgiving

I started off Thanksgiving day with my bootcamp crew. We had 36 show up to get yelled at by Joy and I......mostly Joy.

Warming up!

My two favorite bootcampers, Quinn and Phill. 

The "yeller and the teller". I tell on people if they are wimping out and Joy then Joy comes over and yells since I'm not so good at that.

This is my favorite picture of the morning. Poor Eric is getting yelled at. She looks mean but we all know she's really a softie at heart.

Moving on to lunch with some good friends. No this is not healthy, I just thought the hearts were cute.

I know I need a camera....these picture are not that great.  Here are some more of my favorite people. My dad is there in the corner. I'm so glad he made the long drive from Ohio to come for Thanksgiving. We love you dad!

These friends gave us Ravens tickets for Thanksgiving night. What a great game with great friends!

So mad that Ray was injured and didn't play. I've been to two games and he has been injured for both. grrrrrr

Go Ravens!

I love my mini Ray! He is so little and fast. I love to watch him.


I am so thankful for this day.... ..and everyday. I have so many people in my life in my life to be thankful for so I just wanted to share a few. God has blessed me in so many ways I can't begin to count. Don't forget to give to give thanks!!

Homeschool myths busted

I know, I know my blog is supposed to have a "niche". But it doesn't, sorry. I just write about anything that pops into me head.

I like to watch the TLC show 19 kids and counting.  Ethan makes fun of it like crazy but I love the Duggars! Yes, they may be a little weird and yes they are about to have baby #20. I love the show because it's the only show on that's clean. They stand for so much of what I believe.

But it made me start thinking about homeschooling. Is this what most people think about homeschool families?

Before we had Trey I said I was NOT going to homeschool. There were so many reasons that I didn't want to do it. I am horrible at math, I am not creative, I wanted some me time, and I only have associates degree. Good enough reasons for me.

Then Trey came along........and I started to see it differently. It wasn't really until he started to reach the kindergarten age that I started wanting to homeschool.

Some friends gave me some advice that has stuck with me and really helped make the decision.
1. You have to be totally convicted or it won't work.
2. Don't put pressure on yourself to be perfect.....just take it year by year.
3. You can't put a baby plant out in the sun and walk away. It won't survive. Just like a child that is sent out into the world. It needs to be nurtured.

We've been homeschooling for 3 years now and we love it....especially Trey. Don't get me wrong, I have my days that I want to rip my hair out but for the most part it's great. I don't know maybe in a few years when I'm teaching all 3......I may not be so great. I just take it day by day and year by year.

Back to the Duggars! I want to clear some things up about homeschool....break some myths. Here we go.
MYTH: All homeschool families can sing and play instruments.
FACT: If you believe that then you haven't heard me sing. Maybe one day my kids will be into that but for now there is no way the Magee's will be putting on any kind of performance.

MYTH: We sew our own clothes.
FACT: If you know me your laughing right now. I can barley sew a button on.

MYTH: We don't believe in birth control....it's a sin.
FACT: NOT TRUE! Although I do think Mrs. Duggar does better with 20 kids than I do with my 3 there is no way that is ever happening. I think we are happy with 3. Show me in the Bible where it says that birth control is sin.....hmmm....it doesn't.

MYTH: homeschool families are weird.
FACT: You obviously haven't met my family. We are so cool! At least we think we are?

MYTH: Public school is a sin.
FACT: No way! In fact our kids will probably be in public school when the time is right.

MYTH: Homeschool kids are not socialized.
FACT: My kids can be be shy but are definitely socialized. We don't sit at home all day you know. They are involved in lots of other activities.

MYTH: Homeschool families are religious fanatics.
FACT: Yes, our faith has everything much to do with how we raise our kids but that's not the case with all families. All different kinds of parents are deciding to homeschool for so many reasons other than faith.

So these are a just a few things I had clear up. I love talking about homeschool so feel free to ask me anything! Check out 19 kids and counting and see for yourselves why I love them. They are obviously not as cool as my family but a great show.

As for now I just pray A LOT during my day as a homeschool mom and take it day by day..........

Northeast Triathalon

 Last summer my friend Jenn told me she signed up for her first Triathlon and asked if I wanted to do it with her. I had no bike and didn't know how to really swim so of course I said yes.

I got a single swim lesson and bike and I was already hooked.

I love Ethan for so many reasons... this is a picture of just one of the reasons. It rained horribly the day of the tri. This is Ethan putting my bike on the rack at about 5 am. He fell down the hotel steps doing this for me. Don't worry, my bike was not harmed.

This is me, Jenn and our awesome friend Susan who came to cheer us on.  She is also a triathlete.  We love you Susan!

If your not happy with your age don't do a triathlon.

Yep, this is what we swam in. 

I'm one of those yellow caps out there.   

Just getting out the water and heading to my bike.

This picture says it all.....what the heck am I doing?

I didn't kill myself or anyone on my bike and am now heading out for the run.

It's not the best feeling when you get of your bike and have to run. My legs wouldn't move.

I remember seeing this sign toward the end of the run. Thanks Susan!

I passed this guy right at the end. Yay me!!!!

We finished! This is another friend Meghan in the purple(sorry it's of your back). I've made so many fun tri-friends! 

Cheryl, Tara and Jenn. The rain finally stopped after hours and hours.  Did I mention the fact that Jenn couldn't swim at all just a few weeks before this? Your a rockstar Jenn!

What a great way to end my first triathlon! I had a goal of just finishing without freaking out or getting dq'd in the swim. I placed 5th in my age group and became addicted. I love triathlons first of all because the people are just plain awesome. Also, I don't have to be really good at one thing.... I can be just alright at all 3. Works out perfect for me.

The saga of a twi-mom

 This is my girl Brandy. She loves Were wolves! I love her...... so after 5 years of saying no to the stupid twilight books I told her I would try them. What can I say? They ARE really good books. So I read the books in 2 weeks and then watched the movies. Then I was talked into going to the midnight showing of the latest movie, Breaking Dawn. I waited in line for 2 hours with mostly 21 year olds wearing "tri-hard" clothes.

This is twi-mom Tabby. She has a sweet baby at home but yet she is up all hours of the night with Vampires.....She is on Team Edward. But you already knew this because she wears twilight clothing.

Twi-mom and twi-daughter, Alexis and Stephanie. They look like sisters, don't they?

I often ask Brandy what she sees in a 32 year old preacher's wife.....I guess I'm just that much fun!

These are the  21 year olds of which I speak.

Playing bs which I am horrible at BTW.

hmmmm...............

No comment

The line was out the door

This is the latest I've ever been out.

That's my vampire loving crew up there.

So, call me what you want....crazy, stupid, twi-mom, dork(that's what Ethan calls me)... I don't care. I had fun with friends and watching all the other crazy people.  The movie actually wasn't that good....way to much blood drinking for me.
If your wondering what team I'm on I'll tell you. GO TEAM JAKE!

Proverbs 31: The Original Ironmom

I went for a great 7 mile run yesterday in the state park. If your not lucky enough to live in Delaware I feel bad for you. The state park is beautiful any time of year but especially in the fall. The leaves are falling, too many to deer to count and of course the beach.

My knee felt great so I tried running up the hill that overlooks the beach and it felt great....so I ran it 5 more times! I had lots of time to think and pray.

7 miles might seem like a crazy task to some of you but to me it's very minimal compared to what I have to accomplish next August. I signed up for Ironman Louisiville. If you aren't familiar with this, it's  a 2.4 swim, 112 mile bike and a 26.2 mile run. Yowza!!! So as I was running I was praying, as I do for most of my runs. How am I going to train for this while being a wife, mom of 3, have a physically demanding job, cook, clean, do all my church and the list goes on......

Proverbs 31 came to mind. If you haven't read this...do it. If you don't have a Bible....get one!

I have always known this chapter as "the wife of noble character" or "the virtuous woman" or just "the Proverbs 31 women". I've taken it upon to change her name....."the original IRONMOM".

I've always had a love/hate relationship with her. She makes me feel lazy, talentless, unworthy, vain and selfish. Yesterday I fell in love with her. I believe that if they had goggles and road bikes in Bible  time she'd sign up for IM and say "I got this". She knew she can do all things in Christ who gives her strength.

Think about the verse that says her arms are strong for her tasks. If you know me you know I love strength! Strong is the new skinny. She was also the first female body builder.......in my mind at least.I just had to sneak that one in there.

Here is a list of some of her duties:
gardener
provider
trader
sewer(is that what you call someone who sews?)
feed the poor
decorator
teacher
That is just some of the things this woman is able to do. The Bible also says she is joyful, blessed, praised, wise and does not care about outward beauty.....I'm starting to hate her again!

I am very blessed to have married a man who was raised by a an ironmom. I know that before I was born she was praying for a wife for Ethan.....I am so thankful for this. She is wise, virtuous, kind, loving, and her children call her blessed.

My mom lead me to Jesus. She is a ironmom in training. I think it's takes a lot more strength to start training at 60 years of age. She can be hard on herself but I thank God that she is my mom and is willing to work through the hard things. I have seen a ironmom emerging from her in the last couple years and I think that is so cool. I call her blessed for sure!

If you have an Ironmom or Ironwoman in your life make sure to give her props......today! They are hard to find.

"Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all." Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting; but a women who fears the Lord is to be praised. Give her the reward she has earned, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate. That is my favorite! Here are the things I take away from this woman.
1. Earthly riches and beauty don't last.
2. I want to be a woman who fears the Lord.
3. My family comes first.....before my job, before church, before triathalons!
4. And before my family....God! Trying to do all this without God is like thinking you can do an IM without training......sets me up to fail everytime.
5. Do all things for HIS glory.

I'm going to leave you with this cheesy Picture. This is my first tri medal......3rd in my age group:)  Obviously I was so proud and excited. But I would take all my medals....even a first place IM medal and throw them out because they don't mean a thing. I'm working on heavenly medal. I want to be praised by my father for my eternal rewards. So as I start training in January I have to keep my eyes remain focused on the heavenly kingdom that awaits me. I pray that I stay my course and be the Ironmom that God wants me to be. I ask that would be pray for me. Everytime you see anything to do with tris shoot me a prayer....also for Ethan who is going want to kill me in the months approaching.

"I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ."

This is Ethan

Rehoboth Beach vacation 2008

 This is Ethan. My husband, my best friend, my biggest fan, my supporter, my encourager, my preacher, and of course my baby daddy!

Ethan and I met about 15 years ago and been married almost 12. I thank God for putting him in life. I am a better person because of him.

These are some of my favorite pictures of him.

Watching Trey at his first attempt at the BMX track.

I love this picture except that we are missing Cross. December 2008

 Also from our vacation in 2008. Most people freak out when they see this picture. I love it because it shows that he teaches our kids to be brave. He makes them face their fears. They will be able to go through life being strong and courageous. I believe that Daddy's are the most important part of childhood. They want to hear from daddy "you are strong enough", "you are beautiful", " I am proud of you".

Tough guys!

I think if I had to pick a favorite this would be it! He's telling her to make sure she doesn't show her "flowers" to anyone .

food

 So many people ask me what I eat. First thing, I am NOT a nutritionist! I just love food and what it can do for the human body. I don't believe in diet or calorie restriction. I believe in eating food in it's whole form. I started eating clean about 5 years ago after my mom gave the Eat Clean books by Tosca Reno. I have the whole series but have lent them out to friends. So here is a picture of 2 of them. I have had the opportunity to meet Tosca a few times and I love her!

Eating clean means no white stuff, lots of lean protein, no packaged stuff, eating every 2-3 hours and lots of water. It's a lifestyle, not a diet which means you don't have to worry doing the math of calories in, calories out. Just eat clean!

So here is where I take it to a whole new level! My friend gave me this book about 3 weeks ago. it was Written by a professional Ironman. He eats raw! No meat, no dairy, no gluten, no soy and no coffee. Did I lose you yet?

So for the 3 weeks I have been eating this way and I love it. It was just supposed to be an experiment but I feel great. I don't eat totally raw.......it's really hard with 3 kids. But I do have to say the kids like almost all the stuff I feed them including kale chips, quinoa, and kelp noodles.

 Here is a picture of some of the things I eat every day.
Ezekiel bread-live grain bread with lots of protein.
Yerba Mate`-species of holly native to south America. I use it in place of coffee.
Chia seeds-High in potassium, magnesium, calcium, iron, protein and fiber. Great for active people.
Coconut oil- I pretty much use this in place of all butter and oil. I use in on my skin and hair also.
Pumkin oil-High is fatty acids and great in salad dressings.

Kombucha- fermented tea rich in organic acids, active enzymes, amino acids and antioxidants. Great for digestion.
Hemp protein powder-complete protein containing all 10 essential amino acids.
Coconut milk- dairy free and so good!
Maca powder-A root vegetable with medicinal qualities. Great for building muscle and recovery.
Vega bars- I use them when I'm on the run.

kale and arugula salad with mung beans, sprouts, chia seeds, lots of nuts, seeds and raisons. yummy!