Yoga kids

I'm not sure what it is about doing yoga in front of your kids, but mine always want to join in, climb under or on and really just think it's the best! I'll never forget the first time Morgan asked for her own mat to do it along side me. So cute!

This afternoon, while Morgan was at ballet, I figured I would get some exercise in since it was too cold out to walk this morning and Bennett had a runny nose so I couldn't take him to the gym. I pulled out my old favorite yoga video, my mat and came downstairs so I could watch him playing while I did my yoga. He was immediately entranced by the video! He sat on the couch and watched me do it for probably ten minutes before he got up, walked over and started bending over like I was. I asked him if he wanted to try it and he said he did. So, I helped him learn a few poses. He was so proud of himself that when we went to pick Morgan up from ballet, he excitedly told her the he did "down dog with Momma!!" Morgan was sad that we did it without her. Not sure what's up with my kids and yoga. Morgan LOVES doing it on the Wii Fit. Maybe I should look into a yoga video for the under 8 age group.

I do love that I am setting a good example for them, though. They see me taking care of myself and exercising and hopefully it will instill that in them as well.

My mom and dad kick butt

First off, what other 61 year old woman do you know has the guts to join her daughter in a cardio kickboxing class? I know! She was a little hesitant, I have to admit, and so last night she insisted that I show her the moves. Even that didn't scare her off! She totally hung in for the whole class. Great job, mom!

Also? Guess who had a nice nap this afternoon? Moi. Know why? Because my mom and dad kick butt. Yep, they took care of the kids and I slept like a baby! :) And then, as if that wasn't enough, yesterday when we were at Costco, my Dad got these steaks the size of my head. Well, he grilled them tonight and they were delicious.

I could really get used to this life! I'm so lucky to have such great parents! Now if I could only convince them that the west coast is the best coast. :)

Running free

I got to do something today which I consider a total luxury. I got to go running, not at the ungodly hour of 5:30am or something crazy like that, but at a normal hour - around 8:30. I got to run outside. Without a jogging stroller. By myself.

I'm sure you can tell by my glee that this is a rare occurrence these days. If it's not me being way too tired, then it's we've got too much going on, or during the week the fact that there's no one around to watch Bennett. I've been trying to get my mojo back with running. I'm thinking of doing the Bay to Breakers run in May with my friend Lara, and to be able to do that, I need to be able to run more than 3 miles at a time.

On the treadmill, which is one of the two places I've been running (the other being the indoor track at the tennis club), I feel like a hamster. Time seems to slow to a turtle's pace, with me looking at the distance/time every 30 seconds.

But when I'm outside, like today, I'm down and back before I realize it. 3 miles goes by in 3 minutes and it's so.....refreshing! I feel free. Free to change my pace. Free to groove to the music when Jimmy Eat World comes on my iPod. Free to take in the sights, sounds and smells. The beautiful sun poking through the clouds, the snow on the hill tops, and the buds on the grape vines in the vineyards. The sound of birds chirping, squirrels scampering, and leaves rustling. The smells of freshly mowed grass, crisp cold morning air, smoke from someone's chimney early in the morning, and freshly cooked bacon from the restaurant down the street. As opposed to the gym, where the sights might include people on either side of me, the sound of someone else huffing and puffing and smells that you don't want to think about.

Makes me realize that I need to do this more often. Make time for just me. Just me and the wide open road. Running free.

Grace in small things

Another wonderful day. Here's my list of five things I'm grateful for today.

1. My tennis club membership. It's such a luxury (especially in this economic climate), but it really does help me retain my sanity. I can go there, drop off the kids and get lost in my music and exercise for a good hour or so. Then, I can take my time and shower, shave my legs, hang out in the sauna, dry my hair, do my makeup and basically make myself feel like a woman. I love the feeling I have every day when I leave there. For that, I will overlook the ludicrous amount it costs to go there to exercise.

2. A wonderful library program. I've been trying to take Bennett to story time at the library once a week since Christmas. Except for illness, he's been to them all and he LOVES them. He asks me to sing songs from them, he talks about stories that were read to him there, and he loves checking out his very own books to bring home. And I love that our playgroup met there today. :)

3. Daisies. When you look for options for extracurricular activities for your child, there's always a sport to be played or dance lessons to be taken. Luckily for us, my good friend Kristin wanted to start a Daisy troop (first level of girl scouts) at Morgan's school. Where sports can teach things like teamwork and sportsmanship, Daisies teaches things like character. I believe it's particularly important as these girls are now exposed to so many different things and people since they are now school aged. The girls will be together as a troop for a good long while, and it makes me happy to know that they will have all been taught things like how to treat friends, taking care of the earth and how to defend yourself against a stranger. I'm so happy to have such an activity for Morgan.

4. I'm so thankful that my friend Kristin agrees to keep Morgan with her between Morgan's reading group and Daisies. She does this even when she's got so much work to do to set up for Daisies and she does it when she knows that I can't be there to help. Ever since Lance got his new job, he hasn't been able to work from home (which was the original plan since Daisy meetings are every other Wednesday) and subsequently be there to "watch" Bennett during his nap. So, instead of me having to go pick Morgan up after reading group (at 1:10) and then have her back in time for Daisies at 2pm and then picking her back up at 3, I'm able to be at home with Bennett while he naps. Don't underestimate how important a nap is to an almost-two-year-old!

5. I'm thankful for a husband who understand that even though my obligations may not drive income, they are still important and he will go out of his way to come home so I can be where I need to be on time. I know this seems like a simple thing, but you'd be amazed at how many women have problems with this! Of course, I would never be married to those men anyway, but I still have to give props to my husband.

Energy

It's amazing to me how much more energy I have when I am able to follow my routine of getting up before the kids, getting ready for the gym, taking Morgan to school and then spending time exercising, showering, and taking care of myself in general. I always pick Bennett up from the nursery, energized, refreshed and ready for the rest of the day.

Today when I picked him up, he was all smiles and ready to go! One of the ladies in the nursery commented to me about how much he's talking. Ummm, yeah. Complete sentences. A lot. Like all the time. For example, after the gym today, we headed over to a golf club in Pleasanton to talk to them about being a potential venue for the moms' club Mothers Day brunch this year. It was a good 20 minute drive, through pouring rain, up windy muddy roads and Bennett talked THE ENTIRE TIME. I actually had to ask my not-even-two year old child to PLEASE BE QUIET SO MOMMA CAN THINK. It's almost like my energy is contagious. :)

My energy lasted all day. No napping, no stopping. And loving every minute of it.

Pelvic breathing

There's been this yoga class that I've been wanting to take at the tennis club pretty much as long as I've been a member (since July of last summer). It hasn't ever really worked out since it starts at 3:45, but I really wanted to go, so I put the kids down for their naps a little early so they'd wake up early and we could go. We were running a little late, but I manged to get into the class only a couple minutes late. Now, in true "Paige" fashion, the normal instructor wasn't there for this particular class. I believe her son was sick, but really, I have to believe that the memo got out that I was going to try something new.

Anyway, I walk in and am instructed to grab two sticky mats. I do so, and find a spot towards the back of the class where I can stumble and grope my way around in semi-privacy. Now, I should mention that not only is this my first yoga class at the tennis club, but this is also my first official yoga class. Everything I learned about yoga, I learned from a few DVD's I have. I ADORE yoga. I love the way I feel when I'm done. I love how sore I am, in different places, the next day. I love the way it makes your muscles look and how it strengthens your core. But I have been a little hesitant to do it publicly.

As I mentioned before, the class had already started when I got there. I got settled in the back of the class with my two sticky mats and tried to follow along with the pelvic tilts that the instructor was guiding everyone in. She was saying things like "let the breath move you" and "up and back", asking us to rock our bodies, using our breath.....coming from our pelvis. This pelvis doesn't breathe. Now, I can get on board with a certain amount of "breath" talk when it comes to yoga because I do know how important it is to the practice in general. But, when you ask it to come from my pelvis, I'm just plain lost.

Anyway, I try to follow along as best I can. We finally move away from pelvic tilting and more into traditional poses that I'm familiar with. Except the instructor was interesting. Like, she'd ask you to "sort of let your arm fall to the back a little, if you want, without forcing it, just let it kind of go back without thinking about it" Ummm, what?? Either I'm thinking about my arm moving and making it move, or I'm not. And she'd say things like "and then maybe your hands touch above your head". What do you mean MAYBE?? I know yoga is all new-agey like, but really, I guess I just need simple instructions. Not, sorta kinda do a thing that you haven't really thought about. What the hell is that?

We spent the last what seemed like eternity lying on the floor doing nothing. Which was nice, I admit. I almost fell asleep. Except there were those pesky kids to go get from the nursery!

I will try the class again with the normal instructor, but I may also just stick to my DVD's where she actually tells us what to do and we are not trying to breath from or tilt our pelvis.

I am now that mom

You know the one. The one that is blissfully unaware that her 22 month old child is off in the nursery at the gym throwing up. Yep, that's me. *waves*

My heart sank when I saw my favorite nursery worker come running into the exercise studio where I was wrapping up the cardio & core class (although she came *just* as we were on our last set of abs, when I could barely even breathe anymore so at least the timing was right). I mouthed, "me??" while pointing to myself before she could even make her way into the room. She nodded and I flew out of the room as fast as if I hadn't just given it my all in the previous hour that I had been exercising. As we were "power walking" back to the nursery, she tells me that he threw up everywhere. Oh my goodness!

I start explaining that he'd been sick -- I told them this when I dropped him off this morning -- and that I'd kept him home for TWO WEEKS while he recovered. We even talked about how empty the tennis club was this morning due to the rain and that's when I also told them this morning that now that he was totally healthy (haha!) I was not about to miss another workout. Oh man!! I explained to every nursery staff person I saw that he WAS sick, but it was a cold/cough thing. NOT THROWING UP! I would have never have brought him if I thought he was going to throw up. Oh man!

I get home and as soon as we walk in the door, he's standing there waiting for me to take his jacket off and he throws up all over the entry way floor. Poor baby! I strip him down, in what will be the first of many, many wardrobe changes of the day and set him up on the couch with towels and a little bowl for him to throw up in. Not that he wants to do that.

My poor baby has thrown up more times than I can count today. It's slowed down, at least, to only every 30-35 minutes rather than every 15 minutes like he was doing this morning. At one point, I was holding him and he fell asleep. I was still all sweaty and nasty from the gym, so I thought I'd grab a quick shower while I could. I put him down in his crib (triple lined with sheet covers and towels) and took the quickest shower I've ever taken and he managed to throw up while I was in there. Poor baby. I felt so bad for putting him down. So, I've spent all afternoon holding him while he alternated between sleeping and throwing up. He's finally starting to show signs of getting a little better...he asked to get down. I decided it was time to give him some ice chips to see how he does with those. He seems to have perked up a little. Melissa dropped off some pedialyte pops earlier, which was awesome of her, so if all goes well with the ice chips, we'll try the pedialyte pops in a bit.

Kristin brought Morgan home from school for me (thank you again, Kristin!) which is good because Bennett must have thrown up at least 3 times in the time it would have taken me to get there, get her and get home. Morgan was good about eating her lunch nicely and taking her nap without any fuss because she sees how sick her brother is. She's even moderately okay about missing ballet, though she could really use it to burn off some of this energy.

Having a child that's sick just sucks! Although, I have to admit I love the cuddly side of my poor little guy. I'm focusing on that to help get me through the day. Lance won't be home until late again, I'm sure. Being a mom is hard work! But I'm so glad I can be here to comfort my little guy. I just keep telling him that Momma is here. Momma has you. You're going to be okay.

How's this for all over the place?

Wow, what an interesting day it's been.

First off, I woke up this morning and broke my routine of going immediately to the gym from school. Instead, I dropped Morgan off and then came back home before heading to the gym. I got there a little after 9 this morning and was trying to decide what I wanted to do. I missed the 8:30 cardio & core class, so I put my iPod on and decided I'd just hit the track for some running. As I was making my way to the track, a friend of mine came in and was on her way to the 9:30 kickboxing class. Only problem was that it was one of the instructors I didn't care too much for. I decided to suck it up and go to the class anyway since my friend was going. As it turns out, that instructor was sick and my favorite instructor was teaching! I felt redemption for my disappointment on Tuesday night!! And I can assure you that it will be redemption that is kicking my butt in the morning!! :)

After the gym, I came home and ate a quick lunch, packed up a lunch for Morgan and went and picked her up from school. We made the speediest exit we've ever made from school and sped on over to the Dublin library where we met some friends from the moms club where they were making valentines for some seniors at a local senior center. Morgan was surprised and delighted by an unexpected trip to see friends with just me and especially happy that the trip included crafts! When we got in the car, I hit "go" on my GPS and it started to direct me on which way to go. Morgan asked me how it knew where I was going. "I told it where we were going", I said. She looked at me funny and said, "That's kind of weird. How can you talk to it?" I told her that I didn't talk to it, but told it what to do by pushing buttons. I told her how I had punched the button for community attractions, the one for libraries and then picked the Dublin library from the list that came up. She nodded her understanding. I said, "Then my trusty little friend tells me how to get there". She says, "I think you mean trusty little kid". I questioned why she thought it was a kid. "Because you tell it what to do. Like me and Bennett."

On the way home from the library, we were driving through downtown and Morgan commented that someone still had their Chinese New Year decorations up. I laughed a little and let her know that we had just passed a Chinese restaurant, so it probably wasn't decorations for Chinese New Year that she saw, just decorations for the restaurant. She said, "Oh. Well I'm glad you told me that. I don't want to go there!" I asked her why not. She told me that she was scared to go in there with all those Chinese people (as if there were only Chinese people in there anyway). I asked her why and her explanation was, "because I wouldn't understand what they are saying!" I explained to her that while they may speak Chinese, they also probably speak English, which is what we speak. So I think we'll understand each other and there's no reason to be afraid.

Which totally reminded me of a story my mom tells about me on a trip to Vail, Colorado. I was convinced that we were leaving the country for some reason. Maybe the long flight? Anyway, I kept talking about us going to a different country where they spoke a different language and my mother repeatedly told me that we were not going to another country, we were going to a different state and they would speak the same language that we did. She finally got me to understand and then we got off the plane in Colorado. Where I proceeded to witness a conversation in another language by some random people at the airport. "SEE!! I told you!!"

But back to today. Tonight was Open House at Morgan's school. She was so excited to take us there and show us (mostly Daddy, of course), all of her hard work. It was a little chaotic tonight, especially having Bennett there when he was up super early this morning and had very little sleep today (short napper). Plus there was some awkwardness with me introducing myself to another parent and then there's the whole issue of the basket we worked so hard to pull together being RAFFLED off instead of being AUCTIONED off, which is a huge difference in my opinion. Seriously, we got GYMNASTICS BIRTHDAY PARTY, worth over $300 dollars donated as just ONE of the items in ONE of our baskets. And you're just going to raffle it off for a dollar a pop? I guess they "don't have the man power to do an auction". Very disappointed at that. Plus, we put a lot of time and effort into these baskets, even splitting them into two to earn more money for the school. I see some auction management in my near future. But you know what, this is supposedly one of the biggest fundraisers for the school. Might as well do it right!

Yeah, I'm all over the place tonight.

Disappointment at 5 PM

So there's this kickboxing class at the tennis club that I adore. Don't ask me why. It's a great workout, but that's not quite it. I think it's more the intensity of it that draws me in. Like, when I'm in there, it's me and my muscles and me kicking some imaginary perp's butt. But, as I've been to these classes, I've also come to learn that they are not all created equal. I've had four different instructors and they all do things a little bit different. My all time favorite is Jen. She's my favorite group exercise instructor in general, but particularly for kickboxing. The problem is, that she only teaches Tuesday nights at 5pm and occasionally on Saturdays. I haven't been able to make the Tuesday classes since Morgan started back in ballet in the fall since the class falls squarely in the middle of her class. The last Saturday class I went to, one of my least favorite instructors was teaching. I'm not really sure what it is about her that bugs me so much. Maybe it's her excessive use of the STEPs or maybe it's the annoying way she never allows us to finish the 8th count of something, but she just really bugs.

So, imagine my ELATION when it occurred to me that since Lance is home, I can actually go to the Tuesday kickboxing class. Oh, it was pure joy. I actually enjoyed my morning, going out to breakfast with the guys, living it up on Health Nut pancakes with sugar free syrup and egg substitute scrambled eggs, fully knowing that I had a workout coming later. With Jen. And I *heart* Jen. As the time grew closer, I went and picked out my favorite workout attire, put my hair in a high ponytail and took off for the gym. I walked in and saw a woman whom I've seen at the club many times. She's been in a lot of the classes I've taken. I actually like her a lot -- she's a fellow mom of a 2.5 year old and I've even seen her outside of the gym at local parks and whatnot. Except I never imagined her teaching. She's not exactly a Self magazine model, if you know what I mean. Not that that's the reason I didn't enjoy her class. I can see past that if the instructor is good, trust me. But, I want to be PUSHED. I want someone to make me do things I don't want to do and I want to have fun doing it. I want to look at the instructor and simultaneously cuss her and envy her fitness. I want to strive to be in as good as shape as her while she whips my butt in shape. That's what I want. I don't want to do the same slow-paced knee lifts over and over and over and over.

I was so bored in the class tonight! I worked up a little bit of a sweat, but nothing compared to how that class normally kicks my butt. She had us doing "zig zag" things that, in my opinion, are just one impulse away from jazz hands. She also frequently just jumped into some complex maneuvers without giving us any warning. Like, suddenly we'd go from doing the "zig zags" into a jab-cross-hook-upper cut-knee-back kick thing. Just like that. Without any warning or explanation. I HATE that! Oh, and then there was the "warning" we did get about a section that was coming up called TURBO. Oh, beware of the TURBO section, you're heart rate is really going to get up there! This consisted of a football shuffle and a few bob and weaves for 30 seconds at the most. I think my max heart rate the whole time was a 24, when I'm used to knocking on 30's door!

On the plus side, she was really nice. And I liked the music she picked. She obviously put a lot of time, thought and effort into it. Too bad nice and good music isn't going to reshape my ass.

Another unbelievable moment at the gym

There's this woman who goes to the tennis club and she has two boys - one who's a little over three and one who's just a couple months younger than Bennett. She brings them both the the Terrific Toddler class and they run RAMPANT. Seriously - like the younger one is hanging off of the door handle and she ignores. The older one is stealing cars from one-year-olds and she just laughs. I thought this was all bad enough. That and the fact that one of them inevitably has a snotty nose that he's got smeared across his face. But, I believe that what I saw today tops it all off.

I saw her, at the gym prior to the start of class, sitting on some lounge chairs READING THE PAPER. Like, she brought her kids to the tennis club and dumped them into the nursery and then didn't even work out! I couldn't even fathom it. Here I was, rushing to squeeze in some weights and half a spin class and then rushing to get showered, and she's sitting there, leisurely reading the paper. I rush out to the car to drop of my bag of sweaty clothes and then rush to go get the kids. She walks in after me, all leisurely. Her youngest is screaming as we walk in. SCREAMING. She just smiles.

Just call me baffled.

Sure. I admit I've joked about dropping the kids off and then curling up on a couch with a book, but I honestly don't think I could ever really do it. Her kids were way worse in class today than they normally are, also. Maybe this is the only way she can make it through the day??

Last stop on the insanity train

I'm sitting here, eating a tootsie roll and although we had a FABULOUS time today, I'm so glad that Halloween is officially over. It's been too much, all lumped together and I'm looking forward to some weeks of NOTHINGNESS until we roll through Thanksgiving and straight into Christmas.

Yesterday, I met a friend at the gym to do the track and stairs with, after dropping Morgan off at school. I haven't done cardio quite that intense in a couple of weeks, and I was REALLY feeling it. In fact, after sprinting my last lap, I felt as if I were going to pass out. We were walking laps around the track to cool down and I got that chilled, shaky feeling that I know all too well. Luckily, I just kept breathing deeply and it subsided.

After the gym, Bennett and I came home and I did a few chores and then we went to pick Morgan up from school. The kids came home and had lunch and then went down for naps right on time, since we had planned to go to the park for playgroup after. While they were sleeping, the rain started to fall and playgroup was canceled. I took advantage of the atmosphere, and took a nice long nap, leaving my dirty floors to be mopped at another time. By the time we all woke up, it was nearly time for dinner! We did leftovers for dinner and then I headed off to bible study.

Today was Morgan's parade and party at her school, followed by Trick or Treating tonight, of course. The party was open to siblings, so Bennett tagged along. I was SHOCKED by how well he did. Yeah, he threw a few goldfish on the ground, but that's not something that the five year olds weren't doing. He even played with them when it was "choice time", playing and SHARING at the doll house and chalk board! I was so proud of him! All the true kindergartners seemed to be having a really good time at the party. There were stations for decorating cookies, making spiders, a witch's cackle station, monster hands, fishing for treats (my station) and other cute crafts. The kids had a blast and it was so fun to be able to be there and experience it all with them. :)




After school, we came home and had lunch and then I got to work finishing up the chores I had put off on previous occasions. I worked non-stop until the kids woke up. I'm so glad I did too, because now I won't have that stuff hanging over my head. Pretty soon, it was time to cook dinner. I made a chicken pasta dish (artichoke hearts, sun-dried tomatoes, olives, mushrooms, goat cheese, and chicken) with the remaining chicken that I roasted the other night. Lance said again tonight,"you need to always make this with the chicken leftovers!". I think he likes it!

After dinner, the kids got back into their costumes and we took the obligatory cheesy pictures and then took off for trick or treating. We went with our neighbor, who's son went to preschool with Morgan. They did the whole neighborhood and filled their buckets! Bennett hung in there the whole time and was rewarded when he got home with his first Reese's peanut butter cup! He's officially hooked on Halloween!

Note to self

Since you now have a dedicated locker at the gym, how about you just go ahead and leave a pair of underwear there. Because obviously packing your bag at night when you're already dead tired is not getting the job done. I've had to go commando one too many times over the past few weeks. Normally not such a big deal, as I can just run home and get the missing garment, but today we had Terrific Toddlers right after.

See, my planning and stuff is really just my own idiot-proofing. :)

I guess I wanted to spend the whole day in the kitchen

After dropping Morgan off at school this morning, Bennett and I headed to the tennis club (even though I'm terribly sore from the half of a spin class I did yesterday). He talked my head off the whole way there.

Bennett: "Mama!"
Me: "Yes, Bennett?"
Bennett: "Water!" "MAMA!! Water!! WATER!!"
Me: "Yes, I heard you. Water."
Bennett: "Mine!"
Me: "Yes, you have water."

Repeat the same with ball. And then water again. Twice. Yes, he's quite a talker. Who needs affirmation, apparently.

After doing the track (3.5 miles) and stairs (40 sets), I got showered and then Bennett and I headed to the grocery store. After doing our shopping, I came home and unloaded the groceries and then we went to pick Morgan up from school. After that, I proceeded to spend pretty much the rest of the day in the kitchen.

First, I made lunch for everyone. For today and tomorrow. Because? Might as well! Morgan has her first after school reading group where they stay an extra hour to have a small reading group with the teacher. So, she needs a lunch for that. And since I'll have a extra hour with Bennett at playgroup, we'll need lunches as well! I took a small hiatus from the kitchen to wash out the AC filter and the outdoor garbage cans and then came back and cooked throughout the entire nap time (while talking to my Mom on the phone, in true multi-tasking fashion). I made banana bread with some over ripened bananas and cooked up a batch of pancakes for breakfast since I don't have time on school mornings to do it and Miss Morgan has decided to forgo her hot-breakfast-aversion.

Once I got all the dishes cleaned up, it was time to get the kids up and going to drop Morgan off at ballet. I ran to Target while she was there and now I'm back home. Guess where I'm headed? In the kitchen, of course. It's time to cook dinner. Turkey tacos for dinner tonight. Yum.

The quiet before the storm

It's quiet around here today. I was up earlier than I wanted this morning because I wasn't sleeping well. Bennett decided to wake up at 4:30 and was babbling and singing some unrecognizable song. I got up and got the upstairs bathroom cleaned and then came down to start breakfast for the kids. I unloaded the dishwasher and packed up the car with my gym back and diaper bag. After dropping Morgan off at school (and delivering her well-earned potted mini rose plant to her teacher!), I went to the gym. I did 30 minutes of weights and then took the first 30 minutes of the spin class. I felt obligated to tell the instructor that I had to leave early at the beginning of class so she wouldn't make a scene when the time came. So much for that! When I got off my bike and started stretching, she's all "BYE PAIGE! I WANT TO LEAVE NOW, TOO!" The class was packed (in fact, I got the last bike). So, I was a little embarrassed. But I'm still glad I went - it was a good way to spend 30 minutes! She is tough!

After I got showered up, I picked Bennett up from the nursery and we headed upstairs to the Terrific Toddlers class. He definitely enjoyed it more this week than last week, but when "free play" time was almost over, he took my hand and showed me to the door. :)

Today was an early release day for Morgan, so I headed straight from the tennis club to pick her up. We came home and had lunch and then the kids played for a good hour and a half while I finished cleaning bathrooms, dusting, and vacuuming. I have a good head start on this week's chores already, that feels great!

I ended up wasting away nap time working on some favors for the in/out board dinner for the moms club. I finally have the design nailed down, now it's just the tough part of printing, cutting, gluing, etc. I can do that while I'm vegging out in front of the TV tonight, though.

Because now the kids are up and I need to run to Target to look for stuff for the class' door for Trick-A-Dooring. And I need to find the stuff for the scarecrow and schedule the time in the class for the kids to help make it. Oh, and I also need to find time to go solicit raffle prizes for the pumpkin patch party. Not to mention decorating my own house (Morgan is feeling jaded about the fact that EVERYBODY has their decorations up EXCEPT US. She's so deprived!) Seems like all this stuff is hitting all at once! :)

I guess it's a good thing today is quiet and I can get a head start. Because after tomorrow, the week's pace picks up drastically. And then next week my parents will be in town. We are so excited! :)

Random offerings

• Morgan would like to be either a scientist, a bird trainer, or become a clown and join the circus when she grows up.
• Bennett finally took a good nap today. You see, for the past two days, I've given myself permission to nap during the kids' nap time and for the past two days, just as I've laid down to close my eyes, he's woken up. Today, he took a nearly three hour nap and I was able to squeak out a little over an hour nap.
• Which is good. Since we have girls night out tonight. We're going dancing! Weeee! I'm sooo looking forward to it. Mom, I promise no whiplash! ;)
  
• Tomorrow is soccer and then not much else planned this weekend. Which is also good. See previous item regarding night out tonight. May need the weekend to recover. Because I'm old like that.
• I was sore from my Tuesday workout, but was meeting my old boss at the gym yesterday to do the 10 laps around the track, 10 sets of stairs, 9 laps around the track, 9 sets of stairs, etc. It's good I was meeting him because if I hadn't been meeting him, I might have wussed out. And I didn't and I managed to get another good workout in this week. The scales are continuing to inch down, which makes me happy and makes these hard workouts worth it!
• Remember the new chore chart? Remember the items Lance signed up for? Yeah. Still not done. Remember me sitting on my butt? Let's call it a week-long-exercise. It's been fun! :) I couldn't stand the kitchen floor any more last night and had to break down and mop. I just have some dusting to do to get caught up, but it was an interesting little experiment in laziness. ;)
• Morgan is learning to read! Like real reading! It's very exciting! I put out seven new site word flash cards for she and Lance to work on last night while I was at bible study and when I got home, Lance informed me that she had earned six new rocks because she got six out of the seven words. She was sounding them out, even, as I was writing them. So proud of that girl.
  
• I'm feeling good. Yeah. Just really good. :) Loving my kids, my husband, my family and friends. Life is good. :)
  

Just when I was starting to feel superior

My heart nearly dropped to the floor when I spied the most insane instructor headed towards the class I was taking this morning. I thought briefly about fleeing to the weight room or track to avoid having her teach a cardio & core class, but I decided to suck it up and followed her to the classroom. Where I was surprised to see that there was already an instructor there. And then it dawned on me that she was actually there to take the class, not to teach it.

This particular instructor is well known for being the toughest. In fact, if you mention her name in some of the other classes, the instructors will often take their class to a whole new level. Just at the mere mention of her name. I've only taken her spin class. And it's tough, but it's VERY good. Well, here she was. One of us. The nervousness in the room was nearly palpable. I'm sure everyone was thinking the same thing I was thinking. Oh Shit!

This is sure to put me on some short list into hell, but here are some random "good thoughts" I had during the class.

- Wow! She's not very coordinated off of a bicycle.
- Dang, she sweats a lot.
- Look at me! I'm doing the high impact/high intensity moves. Look at her! Low impact! Pphhhffft!
- I am catching up to her on the track! Woo hoo!
- Dang, she sweats a lot.
- Aww, look...she had to leave early!

And then? Just as the class was ending, she walks back in. With the next class. That she was teaching. So forget about the lack of coordination or the low impact moves. This woman is a machine.

In other news at the tennis club, my Veteran Family Representative was in the class this morning (which I had feared, which is why I haven't been to this class in 2 weeks). She distracted me from a good warm up by talking to the woman that was next to her (the two of them were in front of me). And then? Then, she had the audacity to make a comment while we were up at the track that she couldn't hear what the class instructor said BECAUSE SOMEONE WAS TALKING. Oh please!! When we got back to the room, she turns to me and asks if I got her email. I just smiled and said "Yes. Thank you." when what I really wanted to tell her was that we're not going to get all BFFs over this. I figure that will sort itself out later.

In even more news from the tennis club, Lance and I successfully spent our club credit. I now have some smashing new workout attire, a new water bottle, Lance has a new shirt, and was treated to an hour long hot stone massage. Life is good. :)

My default response is to sit on my butt!

As you may remember, I was warned about "cutting my husband out of my life" by taking on all the work around the house. I was advised to create a spreadsheet with all the week's tasks on it and ask everyone to pick the things they LOVE to do. So, I spent a good portion of time yesterday, taking everything out of my normal format and putting it into a new spreadsheet. I did this, because I guess I expected a response of joy and happiness over DOING CHORES! Because I apparently just met my husband yesterday.

Instead, I got a "oh, yeah, I read your blog" and some half hearted glances at the spreadsheet. After promising him that he didn't HAVE to pick any of the chores, he reluctantly selected his chores. Except the chores he picked (cleaning sinks and toilets in bathrooms, cleaning bathroom mirrors, replenishing toilet paper, and sorting through coupons and disposing of expired ones) are ones that I normally do on Mondays. And since he didn't do them this morning at 5am, before he left for work, I'm feeling a little bit like hmmmm. What do I do today? I do have a whole list of other stuff that needs to be done (that I would normally do on another day), but no. I'm stuck thinking about my normal Monday chores. I've solved the issue by deciding that I'll sit on my butt. Because that will get it done. :)

I dropped Morgan off at school this morning and headed to the tennis club. I got a decent workout in (my arms will be hating me later), got a shower, and then tried to figure out how to spend the $300+ credit I have at the tennis club before it expires on Wednesday. I decided to rent a locker and get Lance a massage. Still, have lots of money to spend. I'm about to buy some very overpriced athletic gear, but if I don't, I'll have nothing to show for the credit I have! I shouldn't have waited so long! After getting the locker and massage set up, I picked Bennett up from the nursery and we headed to the Terrific Toddlers class at the club. He normally LOVES this class, but he kept grabbing my fingers and leading me to the door. Wanting to leave. Or wanting to be held. With his fingers shoved in his mouth. I'm thinking he's working on some teeth? He's not usually that clingy in social situations like that. Not even "If you're happy and you know it" could get him to break away. Poor guy!

After the gym, I went home and cooked up some grilled cheese sandwiches for the kids and packed them up. We went to pick up Morgan from school and then hit the park for lunch and playtime after with some friends. Bennett lightened up with food and play and now the kids are napping. We didn't get home until 2pm, so they'll probably sleep until at least 4. Which gives me only a couple of hours to kill before Lance gets home. This just might turn out to be a good one! It's also the only night this week that I'll be home, so I need to make sure I take my turns with bath time, pajamas, teeth brushing and bedtime stories. My poor hubby - I have something every other night this week!

At least he gets to DO CHORES! :)

Now what?

Blame it on hormones or whatever you will, but by some stroke of happenstance, my entire house is clean and all my laundry is done. I had a burst of energy, starting Sunday morning and I've managed to get almost my entire week's worth of chores done in just a few days. Now what??

Bennett and I enjoyed a nice quiet morning at home. Just me and him. Giggling. Talking about animals, him making me taco and baking powder soup for lunch (play kitchen). Then, me chasing him around the house as he went from one thing he wasn't supposed to get into to another. We did manage to squeeze in a trip to the grocery store, where he really charmed everyone. Starting with the Fed Ex driver we saw on the way in. He has this thing about waving to the workers. Don't know how he knows it, but when he sees someone doing their job, he waves and says hi. Not to the other shoppers in the store. Nope. The Fed Ex guy in his truck. The butcher putting out meat. The cashier in line or the mail person in their truck. Never to anyone else. Ever. Kind of reminds me of Sesame Street for some reason! :)

Morgan has ballet this afternoon and while she's dancing, I'll be strolling around with Bennett, getting my exercise in. Since I managed to miss my 5pm class yesterday due to the kids oversleeping their naps, I ended up walking on the treadmill after the kids went to bed (but before the new Heroes!) I'm walking tonight and then I'll be meeting my kindergarten mom friends in the morning to walk before playgroup. My poor arms are going to feel neglected! But, you squeeze in what you can, right? Maybe I'll do some push-ups and sit-ups before the kids wake up from their naps.

Girls night at the movies is tonight. We are going to see The Women. I heard that there's not a single man in the entire movie. Which, I understand it's about women, but c'mon. Can't they throw a Brad Pitt or a Johnny Depp in there for us? We have needs, people! :)

Oh, and for those wondering how things are going on the babysitting front, I had no choice but to suck it up and call one of the girls from the tennis club. On Thursday night, I have my new bible study and Lance is going to a Giants game with his coworkers. Bible study is during bedtime, so I didn't feel right about bringing them to the childcare at the church when they would rather be in their bed. So, I called one of the girls from the list and she'll be here on Thursday! I figure it's a good trial run to see how she does and if all goes well, maybe we can see about getting a once or twice a month date night into her rotation. Wouldn't that be heaven?

Damn I'm old. I have to rest up for Veggie Tales.

This morning was the first morning that we picked up Morgan's friend for school. His mom is watching Bennett for me on Fridays while I work in the class and we worked out an arrangement where I'll do drop off and pick up on Thursdays and Fridays to help her out. This means we have to leave our house about ten minutes before we normally do. We reset Morgan's alarm time for ten minutes earlier and Lance was nice enough to brew coffee before he left at the crack of dawn.

We actually got out of the house this morning quite easily. We picked him up right on time and they were super hilarious in the car on the way to school. Talking the whole time about how he woke up with snails all over his room. It was quite an elaborate story and Morgan was eating it up! When we got to school, I knew that I needed to walk them up to the classroom lines since this was his first day being dropped off by someone other than his mom. They really got each other wound up and it was hard to keep them on the sidewalk! I'm thinking as soon as he's comfortable and his mom is comfortable, that on Thursdays, we'll be doing valet!

After they were taken into the classroom, Bennett and I came back home and played for a little bit until it was time for the kickboxing class. The instructor wasn't the same one that I normally have, but she was heavier on the cardio. My heart rate sky rocketed to 174! After class, I took my time and got ready and then went and picked Bennett up from the nursery. He was such a happy camper and we had about 20 minutes to kill, so I drove him to a near by park. When I parked the car, I looked in the back seat and asked him if he was ready to go play. "No". You don't want to go play? "No". Hmmm. Do you want to get out? "No". Do you want me to keep driving? "Yeah". Okay. So, we drove around, stopped at the grocery store to check out produce, and then finally headed over to the school to get the kids.

On the way to drop Morgan's friend off at his house, he and Morgan were back and forth with Bennett trying to get him to say silly words and he would and they'd all laugh. It was quite funny. Until the moment he decided he was DONE WITH THAT CRAP and they didn't get the memo. And then it was all screaming and crying. Luckily, that's just as we drove up to the house.

We came home and were eating lunch when Bennett started doing his new trick. It's where he gets milk into his mouth and then lets it slowly pour down his chin. THIS DRIVES ME NUTS! This started a couple of nights ago at dinner. Well, I have a very strict rule that if you are going to play while eating, you must not be that hungry and therefore you are done. I wiped him up and took him to his room to change his diaper and put him down for his nap. I was eating my lunch during this time and had taken a big bite right before all this happened. I look down at him on the changing table and he's mimicking me eating. He's totally over exaggeratedly eating. It was so funny that I couldn't help but laugh. Of course, that just made him do it more. And more exaggeratedly. Funny boy.

The kids are napping now and I'm trying to talk myself into not mopping and taking a nap instead. After all, after naps we are going to see Veggie Tales. LIVE! And then I have a new bible study group tonight after that. What do I need more? Sleep and a positive attitude or clean floors? Okay, so that may be a slightly skewed question. Feel free to give me the answer I want to hear. You know how much I love to mop floors. :)

Feeling good

I went to bed at a respectable hour last night after suffering through another one of Lance's blockbuster picks. This one was Meet Bill, which wasn't TERRIBLE like other movies such as Drawing Flies. But needless to say, it sucked all the life out of me, so when it was over, I was ready to go to bed. And then the kids slept until almost 8am this morning.

With no solid plans this weekend, I have all kinds of things swarming through my head for us to do. After eating breakfast, I took the kids with me to the tennis club to give Lance some time to himself at home. I took cardio kickboxing and the kids colored pictures. The kickboxing class was really good and we did way more kicks than we normally do. I'm feeling great! I picked up the kids from the nursery and then we came back home after to find Lance staining our back deck (this has needed to be done for over a year!). Maybe I'll have to do this every Saturday! That lengthy to-do list might see some traction as I work out and have someone else watch the kids. Not sure why I didn't consider this before. Heck, I'd even be willing to take a bullet and stay at the club for another hour after the class! I could hang out in the steam room or sauna and then go pick up the kids. Imagine the things that will get done!

It's nice and crisp out this morning. Mid 60s. It's feeling more like fall and with football on today, I'm feeling really good. I love this time of year. Plan for the rest of the day is to get my housework done during nap time and get everything ready for dinner before the game starts. I think I'm going to roast a chicken for us tonight.