Me

Here's a little information about me that you may or may not know. I tend to get "depressed", in most cases I don't mean chemical depression, I just mean "blue". Something happens where I am sad, doesn't even have to be a big event, just a bad day or even a bad moment, and I tend to get wrapped up in it. I let it pull me down. I will mope around and feel sorry for myself, and have the "Eeyore syndrome". After Sage was born I did have self diagnaoses chemical depression. It lasted months and months, I couldn't break free from it. I didn't feel like me...... But most of the time that's not the kind of feeling I get.

Fast forward to last night. I really had a great day. I went to MOPS yesterday morning and had a great time. My kids were in a good mood all day. I got some cleaning done, cooked the girls dinner, watched a little DVR TV (which I don't do often), really just a good day. But last night when the kids were all in bed and it was just me, I got sad. I missed Nick, I was lonely, and I let myself be dragged down by that. That poor pitifull me attitude. So I feel back on my old stand by........food. I made cookie dough at ate it. I'm not proud of that, and now it makes me mad at myself, but that's what I did.

So today I woke up and gave myself a talking to. :) I have been doing great on my weight loss and running. I am 25lbs below my pre-pregnany weight with Capri, and although I am on a plateu right now (I think due to the starting of my running program), I am really doing well. I am eatting healthier, and making good choices. I have pretty much kicked my soda addiction. I do on occasion still drink it but it's almost always diet (I know that's not great either, but I take it one step at a time). I am drinking a ton more water. I am doing my running program 3 times a week, and usually 2 other days in the week I am doing some kind of walking (like my playdate where I get to walk at the lake with a mommy friend). So I am really doing well. So why did I let myself get pulled down last night? I think it's because I forgot who I was doing this all for. I am not working this hard for other people. I am doing this for me. Which means that even in my lonelyness I need to remember myself. I am losing weight and getting healthy again because I want to, not because I have to. I forget that sometimes. So even though today I have cookie dough in my fridge I am not going to eat it (I will probably cook the cookies and make them a little hard because I don't like crisp cookies but my kids do) :) I am going to go run today, or do some kind of other exercise (depends on if I can get someone to watch the kids). I am going to remember why I am doing all of this. And I'm not going to beat myself up over yesterday.

Today is a new day!

Books

Still going off my post from yesterday I thought I would chat about books. And I really would like a response from anyone reading my blog. What's your favorite book from your childhood? That's the basic questions I wanted answered. You can also add your current favorite childrens book, or your favorite adult book. But really please share your favorite book from childhood.

My mom has the "Book house" book series that she read growing up. She ordered them off of ebay a while ago and now reads them to my children. They love them. We also (thanks to my sister-n-law) have an incomplete set of the "Valuetale" books, which are books about historical figures teaching different "values". I was a huge fan of the babysitter club books, Superfudge, Hatchet, The Secret Garden, Anne of Green Gables........ As I have established before I like to read. :)

So please share with me your favorite books.

Reading

I love to read. I really always have loved to read. Thanks to my parents. Both my parents have always been readers, and as I was growing up my mom was great about taking us to the library, and reading books to us while driving on vacation. I think all of those things made me love books. I like to read all the "hype" books, like the Harry Potter series, and the Twilight series. I like to read feel good books, Christian books, mysteries, love stories, crime drama......... Some of my favorite authors are Luanne Rice, Jodi Picoulti, Kristin Hannah, Linda Fairstein...... I also love reading books to my kids. However recently I've learned something that's even better than that........

On Sunday after church we went to the mall and went to the bookstore (we go in a lot while at the mall, we weren't really looking for anything). There was a shelf of children's chaper book mysteries at the front that were by 2 get 1 free. Avery asked if she could buy some books, and I told her yes as long as she used her own money. So she picked out 3 books and was thrilled. She finished the first one tonight. Avery loves to read. She read the Junie B Jones books in a day, she reads complicated signs, papers, TV adds, really just anything. She doesn't sound things out anymore she just reads them like she's been reading for years. She's 6, and I'm just so proud of her. And I am so happy that Nick and I have passed our love of reading on to at least one of our children. There is just nothing better than at the end of the day to soak in a hot bath with a good book.

I hate running

Last night I completed my third week of running the C25K program that I have mentioned before. It's a 9 week program but I am doing it in 18 wks, so each week I do twice. So I have done "week 2" once and will do it again starting Sunday. I run on Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday. I finally realized that I am never going to like it. It's just not something that I enjoy doing, but I am not going to let that stop me. There is something great about knowing at any time that I can give up and walk home, but I force myself to finish it anyway. I ordered myself a roadID tag last night, which is a little bracelet with your name and a phone number in case something happens to you while you run. On it I wrote "running for me", because that's what I am doing this time around. I'm not running because someone wants me to, or asked me to. I am running because "I" want to do it. It's good for me. I hate it while I am doing it, but I am SO glad when I finish. I need lots and lots of encouragement, from everyone around me because it's not easy, and sometimes I do feel like quitting. But this time I am determined to finish what I started. On July 4th I will be running in my first 5K. I don't care how fast I finish, my goal is simply to be able to run the whole time. So wish me luck, and if you see me, tell me it's worth it. :)

Birthday party

Here are a few birthday party pictures. We had a family/friends backyard BBQ to celebrate Capri's first birthday. I of course charged the video camera, got a whole package of AA batteries for my digital camera and was ready to go. However as the party started Nick and I looked all over and could not find the camera (I later found it in the stroller, in the back of the car from our recent Bok Tower trip). So these pictures are from my dad's camera (thankgoodness for grandparents). I don't have all of them yet, so these will have to do for now. :) Enjoy. Capri eatting a birthday hotdog.

Capri sitting like a big girl at the kids table.......we didn't put her there she climbed into the chair by herself. :)

Singing "Happy Birthday"

The whole time she had her hat on her head she had her head tilted to the side. I'm not sure she really liked the hat....lol

Yummy cake!
This way is easier..... :)
Why they put blue icing on a baby cake I have no idea???


The final pictures before Grandma gave her a bath. :) ........have I mentioned how great greandparents are.

Happy Birthday Capri

I can't belive that my "baby" is one today. It doesn't seem possible. My life as a mom of babies has come to an end. I soon will be the mom of elementary schoolers, then teenagers, then empty nesting. How quickly it really does pass. So in memory of 1 yr ago here are some pictures to enjoy.

At my baby shower

Minutes after the c-section
Our new baby girl!
Meeting Avery
Meeting Sage
Getting ready to leave the hospital
1 month old (April)
1 months old (May)
3 months old (June)
4 months old (July)
5 months old (August)
6 months old (September)
7 months old (October)
8 months old (November)
9 months old (December)

10 months old (January)

11 months old (February)

.......................coming soon birthday pictures.

Enjoy the journey!

Enjoy the Journey! That's my new motto for life. I actually had in engraved on Nick's Road I.D. tag (that my mom got Nick for Christmas). It's just a great thing to repeat to myself on long hard days. Just stop and enjoy the journey because it goes by too quickly. Sure changing (and in my case washing) dirty diapers day in and day out doesn't sound like an adventure, but it is part of my life's journey. A journey toward heaven that God has called me to be on. And so much of the time I forget to "stop and smell the roses". The same ole same ole, mondain activies in life, repeat themselves. But then you blink and you realize you have a 6 yr old, a 4 yr old and your "baby" just turned one (new post coming soon), and you realize that if you don't slow down and enjoy each stage of life it's going to be over before it really even starts. So "Enjoy the Journey" is my new motto. The good the bad, the ups the downs, the ins the outs, just enjoy it!

My vent

A little over a month ago Capri, Avery, Sage, and I got sick with the stomach bug. Capri threw up at church, I got sick the next day, Sage got sick the next day, and on that same day Avery got sent home for throwing up during P.E. We also passed it along to my mom, and Uncle Roger who was down visiting for the superbowl. Then we went about a week where everyone was feeling pretty good. Then Avery came home from dance one day with pink eye, and missed a day of school. But then all 5 of us came down with a "cold" (for lack of better words). We all have a nasty cough. Avery ran a high (102+) fever, and we took her to the doctor and they gave her antibiotics and breathing treatments, and Sage gets the breathing treatments also. Capri has a cough her nose runs constantly. So we've all been dealing with that for a couple weeks now. Then last night on the way to gymnastics (after feeling great all day), Sage threw up in the car. So much that I just through the carseat away, it wasn't worth trying to clean. She then got sick several times last night and slept in our room. Then this morning I woke up with a quesy stomach and some not so great side effects from that, and Nick just came home feeling the same way. So we are back to the stomach bug. I am so very tired of being sick. For a healthy family we've really been hit hard this year.

End of my vent!

Avery lost her first tooth!

Avery lost her first tooth today. It's been barely hanging on for a week so I knew it would be soon. She came home from school and was playing with Sage and bumped it. The tooth started bleeding and I told her it was time to pull it. She didn't want me to do it so I gave her some toilet paper to wrap around it and she yanked it out. Now she's running around the house singing.........

"My tooth came out, my tooth came out" She is so very excited!

Disney 5K

Nick ran in the first ESPN weekend 5K this past weekend. We went up the night before had spend the night in a hotel and had a date night. Tammy watched the girls for a bit and then my mom took them and they spent the night with her. Nick and I ate at the Big River Grille on Disney's boardwalk. We then went back to Corando Springs resort where we stayed and checked out their hot tub. It was really a nice weekend.

The next morning we were at the race by 6:15 a.m. Nick ran the 5K through Disney's Hollywood studios (formally MGM). He came in 10th overall (out of 1400 runners), with a time of 19m 28sec. I am really proud of him! Here are a few pictures from our race, and he has a few more on his facebook.

Disney's boardwalk

You can see the Epcot ball

The 5K before it started.

Nick finished the race

Nick with his medal.

Yes I was there too. :) This is me at our resort.

Random pictures

Here are some random pictures of the girls from the last month or so. I will add captions to explain the pictures better. :)

We got a new chest freezer (love it!), and the girls have been having a blast in the box.

Sage just being cute!

Capri having a morning snack.....these make such a huge mess.

This is what happens if the girls leave the candy basket down where Capri can get into it. Capri's first Twix. :)

Avery playing with Capri at the playplace in the mall.

Capri looking cute!

Sage, Capri, and Max on a typical day at home. :)

Avery doing her homework after school.

Capri playing in her "toy corner".

Sometimes Sage just gets super tired and falls asleep wherever she falls......lol

That's pretty much my life. :)

I can push it!

Capri learned that she can push her little car all over the front yard and she LOVES doing it now!

Kindergarten V-day style

Avery had a Valentine's day program up at her school. Each class sang a couple of songs, then all of the classes sang a few songs together. The next day they took a field trip to a nursing home and sang the songs for them. Here are a few pictures from that night. Pardon the blurriness.......
This is all the kids in the 5 kindergarten classes (at least the ones that showed up for the show).

This is Avery's class. She's the blonde on the front row, in the pink dress.

Park

These posts won't be in any kind of order just group with different activities that we've done. And please pardon any spelling errors, I'm trying to post fast today. :)

We have a new park close to our house. We have a walking trail that goes right behind our house that goes down to the lake, and the park is at the lake. So we can walk or ride our bikes right down to the park. It's really nice and it will be perfect this summer. So here are a few pictures from the park. I think they might have been taken on a couple of different days.

Capri loves the new park

Capri is learning how to climb on things.......oh boy!

Avery's favorite playground activity hands down. She LOVES monkey bars.

Sage going down the "bumpy" slide.

Sage being sweet and pushing Capri on the swing.

Capri practicing her walking skills.

This is the only pictures I have of Avery because all she did was play on the monkey bars until she had blisters on her hands.

Sage on the swing.

This is Sage riding her scooter on the trail that leads down to our new park.