Consider it Pure Joy

I have had such a busy couple of weeks. Ty started flag football, so between that and homework for two kids, I have had no time for anything. P90X is still going, slowly but surely. It kicks my behind, so I guess that's a good thing.

We are watching a movie with the teen class at church called To Save a Life and it is so thought provoking. I think the teens are as into it as I am, which is a relief. Everytime I pick a curriculum for them, I am afraid I am picking for myself and not weighing their wants into it. I think I picked a winner this time, though.

I learn so much from these kids. They are such an inspiration to me and I often feel guilty for it. I am sure it is supposed to be the other way around. The teacher should inspire the kid, right? But they are so open with sharing their faith and welcoming to all different kinds of kids at youth group. We should all take a lesson from them.

I have so many blessings and feel so undeserving of them. Today is just a James 1:2-4 day for me. When I feel like everything around me gets to be too much or too chaotic, I go to this verse. My very favorite!!!

Enjoy it and maybe it will help your day, too.

James 1:2-4
2Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

Shew, that last part gets me everytime!! Not lacking anything, how good is my God!!!!

Week 2 of P90X

I started week 2 of P90X last night. It was not as bad as it was the first time around. I am not as sore today and I was able to step it up a bit last night. Cool!
The kids are loving school, Sarah has made a new friend whom she refers to by her full name at all times. Never just the first name, I think that is so funny! Tyler thinks he has the "greatest teacher ever". I think he may be right!

5 Random Thoughts About Yoga

1. My body is not as limber as it used to be, as evidenced by doing Yoga X.

2. I would never do yoga in a public setting. Wow, you have to get into some funky positions.

3. I can totally see how it can be addicting. My sore muscles felt great after being all stretched out.

4. I really, really should have started with something not X. You know, just plain yoga.

5. I could go the rest of my life without ever seeing Tony in his man-leggings/yoga pants.

Stay tuned for more ramblings of working out from a person who didn't have to workout in the past and is a little bitter about it now. Until then, I'll be soaking my sore muscles.

P90X: Exercise or Self Inflicted Torture...you decide.

Heaven help me, I started P90X on Monday. I want to document my progress. I would really like to post pics because I think it would motivate me to want to look better than the before pics but let's just be real. There is no way on this earth I would post a picture of myself in a sports bra and shorts on the internet for the world to see. Maybe if there is significant improvement after 30 days. We'll see.

Now, on to the workout. Day one was not too bad while I was doing it. I mean, I was thinking it was hard and obviously I couldn't do anywhere near what Tony was doing, but it was okay. I did the best I could and when I got up the next day was a little sore, but not too bad. Last night was Plyo and man oh man, it was hard. I am pretty sure it could be used as some form of torture. My legs felt like rubber about 25 minutes in. The soreness has kicked in today, too. My upper body is more sore and my legs are getting worse by the hour. Again, I ask myself what I was thinking.

Someone who has been through this, please tell me it gets easier and it is worth it.

Please.

School is Cool

This week my middle baby started Kindergarten. That just doesn't seem right. She went right in, found her desk, sat down and started making friends. I know I should be happy it was that easy for me, but part of me wanted her to need me. We stood in the hallway for a minute watching her. As we walked off, I turned to Kev and said "Well, there she goes, off to the rest of her life...without me."

That night, I asked them what they thought of school and Tyler replied that he hates school but he loves second grade and loves his teacher. I didn't have the heart to tell him that means he loves school. :) Sarah simply said "School is cool."

And so we're off. Another school year, here we come!

I Need a Vacation!

As you know, Ambria, I just came home from vacation! However, I am so exhausted I can't function properly. I don't know what has become of me. Tell me it isn't age. I refuse to believe it!

We had a good time in Myrtle Beach, SC. For future reference, if left up to me that will be our last trip there. It was extremely crowded at the beach and the pool and I am just not a crowded beach kind of girl. Last year's vacation was spent at the Outer Banks. Greatness, I tell you. Pure relaxation. Don't get me wrong, we had a great time this year in MB. It's just that we were non-stop the entire week; there was so much the kids wanted to do.

Cut to this week. I have hit "snooze" numerous times in the morning and drag around all day. I have gone to bed early and still cannot get it together. I don't like this feeling.

Moral of the story: Life's a beach; just find one that is compatible to you!

The Tooth Fairy Was Here

Sarah lost her first tooth this weekend. We took the kiddos camping and while eating corn on the cob, she said "I can't eat this, it hurts my loose tooth." I asked if she wanted me to just pull it so she could eat and she said "Sure."

That's her new word. Sure. "Do you want more to eat?" "Sure." "Do you want to go somewhere?" "Sure." What is it about that word?

Anyway, I digress. She just let me pull that sucker right out of there and never missed a beat. She danced around the campsite then finished the corn on the cob. The tooth fairy came and she spent her money on a swimming baby she has had her eye on and all is well with the world. Except that I am a little sad that her first tooth is gone and she hasn't even started school yet. When she went to bed that night she said "Aren't you so glad I lost my tooth?" So I replied, "Sure."

Summertime...

It's summertime and the living is easy.

Um, not so much. I would like to think in the summertime the living is easy, but while things do slow down, it still isn't easy. We have wrapped up another baseball season and I have convinced the girls gymnastics is over until school starts. Big Daddy is wanting Ty to play on a travel baseball team and while that sounds fun, taking the camper and boat with us and making a fun weekend of it, still it is more baseball. Don't get me wrong, I love watching my kids doing the activities they enjoy. I just would like to take the summer off, spend time at the park or playing in the yard. Kevin thinks that not allowing Ty to play on the travel team is us being lazy. I think kids are too involved in extra things already. Really, what is wrong with just enjoying the summer? I wasn't involved in everything coming and going as a child and I have great memories of summer vacation. Am I alone in this? I think 'mom guilt' is a killer. I don't want to keep him from doing something he loves to do but I also think when I am worn down from having too much to do, the kids must be too. I also don't want our entire summer to be spent on the road. I am not sure at this point what decision we will come to, but in the mean time, I will dream of summer spent on the porch with a glass of iced tea watching the kids run through a sprinkler in the yard. And maybe one day the living will be easy!

Memorial Day

I am terribly sappy today, for some odd reason. I was going about my morning happy for the fact that it is the Friday before a three day weekend. All of sudden it just hit me. I should not be thanking God for that, I should be thanking God for our military men and women who have given their lives for us to be free. I started looking on the internet for facts about the true meaning of Memorial Day, formerly Decoration Day. There is so much to read that I have just picked out a couple of facts to share that really touched me.

One of most amazing things happens on this weekend at Arlington National Cemetery. I would say most people know of this, I did before today, I just never really took the time to think about it. Since the late 50's on the Thursday before Memorial Day, the 1200 soldiers of the 3rd US Infantry place small American flags at each of the more than 260,000 gravestones at Arlington National. They then patrol 24 hours a day during the weekend to ensure that each flag remains standing. Think about that for a few seconds. They ensure that EACH flag doesn't fall. That amazes me. The importance placed on that and we have reduced this weekend to "the kick-off of summer" and other such sayings. I think that we should all take a few minutes this weekend to think of the importance of this occasion.

The last things I will leave with you are two poems.


In Flanders Fields
John McCrae, 1915

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

One other was written by Moina Michael in response the poem In Flanders Fields.


We cherish, too the poppy red
That grows on fields where valor led,
It seems to signal to the skies
The blood of heroes never dies.

Take a minute to thank God for our military or better yet, thank a soldier yourself!!
God bless!

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun!

Today is happy day for me! I went to dinner at the new Hibachi grill in our town with some girlfriends last night. Yum and yay for us! I rarely get a chance to go anywhere with girlfriends. And I certainly don't often get to eat a meal with adults.

A meal with my crew is usually something like this...

In the car before we go into the restaurant we have "the conversation". This is a speech given by either parent about how we expect the kids to behave and the consequences of not obeying the rules.

As we are walking into the restaurant we are saying... "No, don't touch that. Stay with us; don't run off. You don't have to talk so loudly...etc."

After we are seated the instructions change to... "Sit down on your bottom in your seat. Don't get the silverware out and play drums with it, please. Don't start blowing bubbles in your milk cup."

The food comes..."That's enough ketchup/ranch/A-1. Eat your food; don't play with it. It is rude to take food from another person's plate."

Halfway through dinner...Random Child: "Mommy, I have to pee. Me: Can't you wait until we are finished, it will only be a few more minutes? R.C.: No, Mommy, I have to go now."

In the bathroom in the middle of dinner...Me-"Please hurry." Random child "Can't, I have to poop now." Seriously?!?!? It also takes ten minutes to wash hands.

Back at the table..."I am finished, can we go now? Hurry up, Mommy. I don't want my food, let's go home. Can we go to Wal-Mart and buy a toy?"

Me: "Check, please, and can I get a box for my food?"

So, yeah, girls night out was fabulous!!!!

Something Happened on the Way to Sanity

Sometimes you have a day when you have to laugh to keep from crying. I recently had one of those days.

It began innocently enough. Kevin went out of town to a fishing tournament and I was looking forward to spending the weekend with the kiddos with no real plan of action. That may have been my first mistake. ha ha

Cut to Saturday morning. I needed to clean the house and told the kids I would take them to the park in the afternoon. In the meantime, Hannah is hungry so I do what any nutrition-concerned mother would do...I make macaroni. :) While cleaning the kitchen a little while later, I think to myself "Self, let's not throw out the leftover macaroni, someone will be hungry in just a few minutes and we can heat up this macaroni". Yes, I always address myself as self. So, while I am cleaning the stove top, I place the entire pot into the sink thinking that I will put it in the fridge when I am finished wiping everything off. I move on to the living room completely forgetting about the pot of macaroni in the sink. In just a few minutes, as if on cue, one of the kiddos is hungry. Perfect, I think, I will zap the mac and cheese in the microwave and commence with cleaning. As I get to the sink I notice that a certain four year old someone who shall remain nameless has pulled a chair over to the sink and has stuffed macaroni down the drain. Apparently she knew I was on my way to the kitchen because she stopped in the middle of it and ran for cover. While I am cleaning this mess, Tyler is saying how starved he is and doesn't think he can survive until I make another pot of macaroni. I put more macaroni on to cook and I hear Sarah say (in her very loud and very annoying sing song way) "Mo-um, come see what Hannah di-ud". I stop digging macaroni out of the sink and run to the living room. Hannah runs in the other direction (a sure sign of guilt) and I see the television with crayon marks from one end to the other. Seriously? Seriously? Can this really happen all at once? I begin to try to get the crayon marks off with wet paper towels because I think I read somewhere not to use cleaners on our TV. Doesn't work by the way but Magic Eraser did the trick. Anyhow, while I am freaking out that Big Daddy is going to flip when he gets home and trying desperately to remove the marks, I begin to smell something foul from the kitchen. Yep, forgot all about the cooking macaroni. It had boiled all of the water out of it and the noodles were black and stuck to the pan on the bottom. The smell was like burnt popcorn times 100. Bad. Bad, I tell you.

I finally threw up my hands, hit the McDonald's drive-thru and took the kids to the park. Who needs a clean house, anyway?