Aw Man!

5:48 am! I had my alarm set for 7am but at 5:48am my sweet Z came in to let me know he didn't feel well - hoping that he didn't eat a "good" dinner I tried to convince him that he was fine, then I remembered he helped his daddy finish his dinner, he ate plenty! Sadly within minutes of telling me he didn't feel well he proved it! Aw Man! Now our big plans (that included me having an hour here at the house by myself -when was the last time that happened?): B's first baseball game, my hair appointment, taking a walk and going to do some shopping have been completely turned upside down. Waiting for 9am to see if I can reschedule my appt. Jason is going to try to take the girls to B's ball game and I am going to put together my grocery list. I suppose that the good thing (not Z being sick) is that when life does this it makes you slow down. Praying it is over quick and that we all stay healthy.

Miss me?

So I was told by a wonderful lady that I never did post pictures of my 11 year old - 11 years ago. Trust me she was a cute as a button. :)
March has been a crazy month - B started his scuba class, he has now successfully passed the test and only needs to complete 5 open water dives to be certified. He's very excited about his trip to the Bahamas this summer with my brother Mark.
K & I have been planning our summer trip and she is still playing the piano and participating in gymnastics. She is an awesome student, but how can she not be with 6 mothers watching over her every day at school.
Z is going to be the straw seller in the Kindergarten Piggy Opera in a few weeks, aw I am SO proud! He's learning tons and is now trying to read everything, I see him reading the Kix box in the mornings while eating his cereal. He and his little sister are in gymnastics every Monday night and I think it is a good outlet for all of his energy.
A can successfully write her name, sometimes she struggles with the E but she tries every morning to sign in at school and you can tell she really wants to read too. Love how much she looks forward to learning.
Personally I have been getting up early to exercise. Now I'm trying to get the healthy eating habits but I've not been very successful - will keep trying. Also trying to encourage my husband to join me and get healthier! Wish us luck!
Like I said CRAZY - maybe (no promises) we'll actually see pictures in the near future.

LG

To borrow from the LG company - Life is Good. Busy, but what do we expect from a family of 6? B just finished with his play, 'Beauty & The Beast' - he shared the role of Chip with his friend H. They were both fantastic and A was especially happy with the choice of script! They had practice every day (except Sunday) for over a month. In addition he was playing basketball at the same time. Now baseball and track start up.
K is still playing piano, practicing gymnastics and just tried out for middle school band. They requested that she play the oboe, because she has music background but she stood her ground and accepted the flute. What a girl!
Z is doing well in kinder and continues to be well-loved by all of his 'mothers' at school. Recently he and his little sister, A have begun taking gymnastics at the same place that K goes (they go an hour earlier). They both LOVE it and ask me daily if it is time for 'gyn-nastics' (A quote) day.
A is learning and growing, she's a smart one and I feel confident that she will keep us hopping and praying daily for a long time! She's full of it but OH so sweet!
Jason has been working hard - lately on a very high priority job, great for career - hard on family time!
I got my braces tightened and now I am wearing rubber bands at night - kind of like having your mouth wired shut, very weird feeling. Each time I go I get a new color on my braces, first - pink (breast cancer awareness month), second - purple (my class voted), third - orange (for my sweet Z, his favorite color). Any suggestions for my color in April? I keep wanting to get green - so it will look like I'm actually eating my green veggies - ha ha!
Next weekend I will celebrate 17 amazing years with the man I love & adore - how very blessed I am to have him to share my life. Funny thing is that on our anniversary I will be participating in a church bible study and then leaving right after that to stay the night with a bunch of lovely ladies - we ARE tough cookies (just one of the things my husband loves about me I'm sure!).
Life is Good!

Adorable 11 year old in the HOUSE!

Today our K turned 11 years old! We are so proud of her and love her so much. Let me count the ways:

10. She's a great cook.
9. She has an awesome sense of style.
8. She is great company.
7. She loves her family well.
6. She is intelligent.
5. She gives the best hugs.
4. She's as messy as I was when I was her age.
3. When she knows she has done something wrong she says, "I love you Mommy or Daddy!" And smiles sheepishly.
2. She's always a willing helper with a happy heart.
1. We've been given the honor of raising this incredible child to love, nurture and care for and we couldn't be more thrilled with this privilege!

Happy Birthday to one of the most wonderful people that I have the privilege to know!

By the way - she's growing (see pictorial proof coming as soon as my movie is over)!

Happy Birthday to a terrific 13 year old!

I have been blessed with an amazing family! One of those fantastic people is my son, B - he is turning 13 on Tuesday!
#1 like most people who are entering the uncharted land of teenager-hood I'm a little surprised that I found my way here.
#2 I am excited, because just like every new adventure with B I know that this one will be filled with fun, learning and excitement.
#3 My B is growing up - see the pictorial proof!



#4 One really positive thing about my children growing up - we can share & discuss things, something I couldn't do when I was changing their diapers (at least now I get a response)! B & I were able to discuss the sermon today after church and we agreed that we this quote moved us both, so I wanted to share it with you:

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others. ~Marianne Williamson, A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of "A Course in Miracles," 1992 (commonly misattributed to Nelson Mandela, 1994 inauguration speech)

Rainy & Cold revisited!

Since a few weeks before Thanksgiving I started training, to do the Turkey Trot (5 mile strut/trot). Last year I developed allergies and was unable to run, so I walked the majority of it. This year I was going to try to do the opposite, run the majority, knowing that I might have to walk some since I've never run 5 miles before. Anyway - Thanksgiving came and we were in Arkansas, it was cold and rainy, bad combo! As a family we decided that our desire to stay warm and dry was far greater than our desire to accomplish this running goal. Since then I have continued to train. I've been getting up early to make it fit into my day. I was very successful over the Christmas holiday continuing my training but really loved getting up late and running when it was daylight! So after much discussion we decided that K could babysit after school so that I could run after school several days a week. Wow - I love to be able to stay up a little later and I love that I don't look at my clock until AFTER 5am!
Today was a rainy, cold day in Texas - not a common occurrence but it happens. What I would have given for a treadmill!! I really wanted to run, it was on my schedule but I did NOT want to get cold and wet doing it. When I got home, Jason was already here and I mentioned that I was supposed to run. He said, "you should go, it isn't raining right now and I'm here to watch the kids." I whined, I moaned and Jason said, "who is the warrior?!" Me that is who! I am! I ran today in the 39 degree weather (FYI: for Texans that is frigid weather!!), 30 minutes (even though I tried to convince myself between minutes 5 and 10 that I should 'give myself a break'), and I am a warrior!
Sorry for a rambling blog - just proud of myself! Thanks for reading.

Just so you know my goal is to improve my 5K time - I've got some races coming up that I would like to do better on. Front Porch Days, Tough Cookie duathlon AND that Turkey Trot (I'll kick that 5 miles in November!).

Happy New Year

New Year's Resolution(s)?
I heard a guy on TV today say, don't make 'em if you aren't going to keep 'em. Therefore I tend to steer away if possible. This year is no different... there are lots of things that I think need to be done but when, where and how always make me hesitant to commit openly to tackling BIG goals. Here's what I'm going to do instead - continue to live my life to the best of my ability, continue to strive to be a good mother, a good wife and a person that makes others proud to call me their friend. How am I going to do this? I'm going to continue to fit exercise into my life, avoiding eating out and work on making meals that are healthy for my children, I'm going to encourage my spouse and children to do these things as well and I'm going to make small goals that are achievable and measurable. For example this Saturday I did a "long" run - 45 minutes (this is excellent for me) and I committed to myself that I will improve that and be running an hour by my 17th anniversary (March 5th), I'm adding about 5 minutes per week to my long run so this is an achievable goal as I continue to do those things that I've set forth above. How's that for a wordy response to New Year's Resolution!
If you have read through this then you deserve the next thing - pictures from our relaxing Christmas holiday!
Enjoy!

Sunday before Christmas was Pancakes & Pajamas at church. The children (3 of which are members of Jason's Clan) helped to share the story of the birth of Jesus with us. Very sweet and fun.

A little time at the park, especially with weather so mild in Texas!


Our gifts to KZA were relational. We took each of them on a date, just Mommy & Daddy time with them alone. A went to build-a-bear and I was able to capture a couple of pictures of that. Z went to Gatti-Town where we played bumper cars and all the tickets we earned were given to the boy of the day - Z.

K went to Cafe Monet and we painted pottery. K painted a sock monkey "piggy" bank, Jason painted an orange love bug "piggy" bank for Z and I made a pen holder cyclops (above). Thank you to my mother for helping us to give these gifts to our children.


Cookie decorating! Sadly these cookies tasted like sponges, but they were fun to decorate!


Much of my time this holiday was spent sorting through 5 LARGE boxes of stuff that I gathered at my grandparents house over the Thanksgiving holiday. Oddly this "job" was cathartic - I found treasures, puzzles and wonderful genealogical finds. The above pictures are two of the puzzles that I uncovered. German medals, appear to be new, still in envelopes and not assembled with ribbons. Things that make you go hmmm.... (and then followed by my new favorite thing to say, "G'ma/G'pa what is this?!")


This was Z's first year to get to stay up and celebrate the new year. This picture was taken at 9:45 and shortly after he woke up briefly to tell us he was just pretending to sleep.


This picture was the first picture I took in 2011. He was OUT! Not a night owl!!