A Day of Fun and a Night Away...

Sometimes it is nice just to have a night away, even if you still are in the same town you live in.  Julianne had a Friday off from school just over a week ago, so we planned a fun day for the kids.  And by we, I do mean Brian and I.  He was able to come home on a Thursday night and we had a 3-day weekend with him.  It was great!

Not to mess up my workout routine, we got up Friday morning and headed to the Y.  I did my normal time on the treadmill and elliptical and did a few weights.  Brian did some weights also and talked with a few people.  After working out upstairs, we headed downstairs and played a little racquetball.  This was my first time playing and was quite nervous about getting hit by the ball (I have seen the marks the ball has left on both Brian and my Dad).  First we just volleyed (don't know if this is an appropriate racquetball word, but I am going to use it as if it is) the ball and then Brian explained the rules to me.  We started to play a game, but soon deviated back to volleying.  Luckily Brian was okay with that, we both got a good workout in chasing the little ball.  I had fun, don't know if I am ready to play the game yet, but do enjoy just hitting the ball around.  I couldn't believe how much of a workout racquetball is.

After we got done working out, we got the kiddos and took them to the play park for a bit.  They had fun.  William is loving the play park these days.  He climbs up the stairs, plays in the tunnels for a bit, and then back down the stairs he comes.  He doesn't care for the slide, but loves the rest of the play park.

After the play park we headed home for some lunch and fun time.  The neighbor boy, Connor, came over to play with the girls for a bit during nap time.  They played outside for a bit and then came in, played dress-up and danced.   Here are a few pictures of the dress-up and dancing:

The kids had a blast dancing.  In fact, all dressed-up Connor said, "I am Tinkerbell!"  I think the great part is that the kids can have fun together at our house or at Connor's.  Here they seem to play with "girl" toys and at his house they play with "boy" toys.  They are learning from each other each time they play together and do not even know it.  It is so nice to have friends right across the street!

After the time at home in the afternoon we headed to the Comfort Inn & Suites in Chillicothe for the night.  The girls were VERY excited, to say the least! The girls love to swim and they enjoy staying at hotels.  Once we checked-in, we went swimming for a little bit, then we took a break and had pizza for dinner.  After dinner we went swimming some more.  Brian took William back to the room for a bath and to put him to sleep.  After getting William to sleep, Julianne and Katelyn watched a movie.  Neither Brian or I stayed awake to watch the movie, but the girls enjoyed it.

Here are a few pictures from swimming:

William loved "floating" in the pool and throwing balls. 

Katelyn had a great time swimming.  She is even starting to swim underwater! 

The next morning we all got up and had a wonderful breakfast.  After breakfast we went swimming again.  We let the girls swim for about 2 hours before we checked out from our night of fun.  It was an enjoyable night that I will cherish for many years to come!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Today we celebrate our Irish Heritage.  In our house we each have a little Irish in us.  No matter what though, it is fun to celebrate days with themes.

We started our morning off with green "shamrock" pancakes.

The green pancake batter.

The finished product.  I know it doesn't look the greatest, but the girls LOVED it! 

Now onto pictures of the kiddos...

 Katelyn posing.

 Julianne posing.

 Sisterly love...

 Katelyn wanted her hair like Julianne's, so we re-did it and took some more pictures.

 Once William was up and dressed we did a few pictures with him.  I am hoping that I can get some more of the 3 of them after school today.  If not, I really do like this one.

 My handsome little man, William.  I am trying to get some more pictures of him, but he just doesn't stand still very long!

Here's a close-up of the girls "flowers" they have in their hair.  A friend shared a website with me and I tweaked the project to go with the girls' shirts.

Again, Happy St. Patrick's Day from our family to yours!

Another week...another weigh-in

So, yesterday I had another weigh-in for the Get Fit challenge at the Y.  I have not written about my exercise and weight-loss recently for a number of reasons.  One, I haven't made great progress in my weight-loss and two, not much has changed in my exercise routine.  This week my weight didn't change from last week, that is good in that it didn't go up, but it also means it didn't go down.  I just remind myself to keep moving forward.

I am still exercising 5 days a week for at least an hour a day.  I do at least 35 minutes of elliptical each day and then I do weights.  Some days I also do the bike for 10-15 minutes or the stair stepper for 10 minutes.  Some days I am more motivated than others to workout.  Earlier this week I wasn't feeling motivated, but I kept going.  It took 18 minutes to finally feel motivated.  That day I went for 45 minutes on the elliptical.  After that I lifted weights.  Wow, did it feel good.  But I couldn't figure out why I didn't feel motivated.  I was ready to workout when I got to the Y, so why did things change or slow down when I got on the elliptical.

Thru this journey, I am discovering things about myself I never knew and what motivates me.  I find the first song that plays on my iPod sets my mood for my whole workout.  The day it took me 18 minutes to get motivated a soothing, slow tempo song came on first.  Today, when I was able to get a great workout in the first song that played was a very upbeat, motivating song.  So, now I need to make a playlist for just songs to listen to during my workout.  I have some that I know I want on the list, but I am open to suggestions of songs that others like to listen to while working out.

What else I have discovered is that I can move and get into tight spots that I struggled with before.  The Y here has an indoor play park.  The kids love it.  It is great to have this area available for the kids to burn off energy when we can't be outside.  William is getting more comfortable in the play park, but he usually goes up once, comes down the slide and is done.  Today that was not the case.  He went up and came down the slide and then went back up.  When he was up in one of the tunnels he spit up a bit, so up I went with some wet wipes to clean it up.  I was amazed and how easy it seemed to get up the stairs and thru the tunnels.  It was nice to be able to do it.  I even got to go down the slide!  So, while the weight may not be coming off quickly, I am noticing a difference in my body and I LOVE it.

So, another week and another weigh-in has passed.  I found my motivation this week and will keep working towards my goal of losing a few more pounds next week!

Dance Recital - February 2011

My girls are "tiny dancers".  They are beautiful, talented, dedicated, and care free spirits when it comes to dancing and so many other activities.  This past weekend we had the wonderful opportunity to watch both Julianne and Katelyn dance on the "big stage".  Julianne did two dances, Loot Scootin' and Music.  Katelyn did one, See My Balloon.

Both girls did a wonderful job and had a great time.  I am glad to see them doing something they enjoy and are succeeding at it.  I know they will both miss the studio here when we leave, but will find a new one they will like just as much!

Julianne during dress rehearsal for Loot Scootin'.

Posing for a picture in costume.

Julianne with some friends, Abbey (in pink) and Emily (in red).

Katelyn in her costume for her dance.  She was being a stinker and would not let me take a picture of her posing!

After about 10 minutes she finally posed for a picture.

When she would get warm, her costume would start to itch, so I folded the top down and she thought it was HILARIOUS!

The girls posing together.  I wish I had a better picture, but this is it.

Julianne and some of the girls that performed Music.

Julianne posing.  I love the form she has!!

Julianne will be going to competition in about a month in this costume, dancing to Music. 

I am one proud Mama of my girls.  They both did a FANTASTIC job dancing on the "big stage".  They smiled, remembered their choreography, and had fun.  Each day they continue to amaze me with their talent, dedication, abilities, and love.  I hope I can help to keep each of these things going and help them to grow into young women who contribute to society and are strong all on their own.

They are beautiful both inside and out and will ALWAYS be my little girls!!

Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day...a little late!  We had a great Valentine's Day this year.

It started of with pancake and strawberry face.

 Julianne and Katelyn were excited when they got to breakfast.

William enjoyed his breakfast also.

After breakfast the girls posed for a few pictures.

 Aren't they adorable and lovely?!?!

After having some fun in the morning, I got balloons for all 3 kiddos.

William did not want to let go of his while he had lunch! 

Katelyn loved her balloon too!

Some more posing by the girls!

 It is a challenge to get all 3 kids to smile and look at the camera, but I was lucky to get 2 good pictures!

MY BEAUTIES!

 MY HANDSOME LITTLE MAN!

I even got a picture with my little man thanks to Julianne!

All in all it was a great day to celebrate the love we share for each other, family and friends!