Spring is Working Out

Sooo...I starting working out again this week. 

Yep.

 It's been a good thing. I really started back at the gym 2 weeks ago,

 but then it threw me off when I got sick. 

I was miserable. 

 Being sick + exercising= greater misery. 

Trust me, it was better just to rest it off. I found a health coach to back up my equation. 

So I waited it out. I stayed home. Rested. Worked on projects. Caught up on housework. Slept as much as possible. 

Now I'm back to the grind again. 

I've gotta say it feels great. But I'm sore. In all the right places. And now I'm tired again. I'm sure it will get better once the clouds disappear. 

On a happier note, my daffodils are up and smiling at me each time I look through the kitchen window. 

They literally look like they are waving at me each time I take a peek out there.

Then there's this planter by the front door where we have smaller daffodils that smile happily and seem to say "hello, and welcome!" each time we come home. 

I swear they have smiles on their cute little daffodilic (don't look it up, it's a word) faces. The ground hog saw his shadow, so the story goes. 

So guess what? 

That's why my daffodils are cheering me up these days. 

Thank you Spring!!

Being Sick

It's never fun to be sick. I was at lunch with some friends the other day, and one of them confessed that she was so last year, that she hoped she would get sick.
Really?! 
When one of us asked, "did you?" She responded, "Why yes, I got strep throat. I was down for three days." When we all gasped she stated, "I was so happy. It was worth it!"
I wish I felt that way.
I wish I felt like I had an excuse to stay home.
Instead it just so happens to be on the week that my sweet honey is out of town, so I have extra running around to do. So I just run around feeling like Muck.
Yep, Muck.
You spell that M-U-C-K.
You know, like the stuff they shovel out of horse stalls.
Yep.
I look like it too.
But at least my family is getting where they need to be, when they need to be there....even though I just long to be in bed.
My children are happy, because I lost my voice. No ability what-so-ever to raise my voice.
Funny thing is, they listen better.
So the secret to combat selective hearing, is actually a secret. How about that?
Apparently looking like muck isn't an appealing image you want to remember, because there is not one blessed picture of the whole past week to share. So I will share a few pictures from my practice with our new lens filters instead.

I don't know what the heck I'm doing with them.

 
 But many thanks to Justin who let me practice until I got a good fit.

Much better. Captured a clear pic of his "funny face".

They Forgot Their Lunch

Most mornings we get up early. We're on the ball. Lunches are packed. Children are eating breakfast, everything is going smoothly. On schedule, we head out the door and wait in front of our house where the bus stops to pick up the children. Then they're on their way. 

Easy. 

Should be, right?

Then there are days like today. 

We get up early. We're on the ball. Lunches are packed. Children are eating while finishing homework and taking a practice spelling test one last time. I'm watching the clock. 

Then, somehow, we lose track. 

The bus comes. Pulling up right in front of our house where the bus stop is. 

We are late. 

How did that happen? 

Where did the time go? 

Everyone shoots out the door with a desperate grab for me to give a hurried kiss. 

They all piles into the bus in a hurry. 

As I breathe a sigh of relief and walk back into the house where I begin tidying up...

...there it is. 

There's always one. 

A lunch box waiting to be carried away. 

Only, it was was left behind. 

A sweet somebody forgot their lunch. 

What They Say Wednesday

On Sunday night we sat down as a family and watched what was labeled by Bryon and Tyler when they were little, as "Mommy and Daddy get married". It's a video of us when we came out of the temple and then our reception following. Steve had wanted us to watch it together because he realized that none of the little ones (Justin, Alyssa, and Amy) had ever seen it.

 That night after the children were all settling down, Amy was in our room talking to us and vocalized her thoughts, "Mommy was pretty and Daddy was handsome, then you grew up and, well, it didn't work out".

We're still laughing. It quickly became one of our catch phrases.

She Loves Color

One of the things I love about Alyssa is her love for anything having to do with drawing and art. 

She is always coloring, practicing her words, writing a letter, or teaching Amy to her letters. 

 One day I walked in to find she had fallen asleep coloring and I had to get a picture.

How appropriate! 

Alyssa is AMAZING!!

Our little Fashionista!

It's so fun to see what Alyssa dresses up in because she has such a fun time with fashion. 

From the sunglasses on the top of her head, 

to the striped tights with silver shoes on her feet.

It's so much fun experiencing a girl!

Tying Shoes

I have to admit that I feel like there are a few marked events in life that determine your sucess as a parent. One of them being teaching your children how to tie their own shoes. My goal of having them learn how to do this by the time they are five came to be when Bryon's kindergarten teacher listed this as one of the homework assignments before they finished the year.

I'd like to have a great excuse for not having taught Alyssa how to do this before the time she was five. But I don't. I guess things have just gotten away from me. I will confess though, that if I had, I would not have experienced the amazing blessing of seeing my children teaching each other. I think this is a great accomplishment than if I had taught them myself.

Just after Justin taught Alyssa, she turned around and taught Amy. Is there any greater joy than watching your children teach, learn, and work together? One of those simple joys of life!