Emmy and Owen

"The boys next door", is a very common phrase around our house.  Before Gracie was even born, a couple with triplet boys moved into the house next to ours.  Little did we know that they would become such a big part of our life!  Paula and I are both stay at home moms and enjoyed hanging out with the kids and chatting while they played.  Jackson, Ryan, Collin and Gracie have spent countless hours together.  Then Emmy was born and a year and a half later, along came Owen.  These two are showing all the signs of being great buddies too.  When they see each other outside, they run across the yard toward each other yelling "Owen" and "Emmy" like they haven't seen each other in days.  I am so glad that Emmy will have a "boy next door" to grow up with, just like Gracie did!

Our Little Gymnast!

I'm so proud of my Gracie.  I love her attitude when it comes to learning new things.  She may not get it the first, second or third time, but she is NOT going to give up!  I am impressed with her progress since she started her Friday night class at Nick's Flippin Kids.  Go Gracie!

Sweat and Tears

There is no replacement for hard work and discipline.

The hard work and discipline must be consistent.

These were two of the revelations that I had while I was on the treadmill for an hour this morning. Today is Monday. Sometimes Monday's are great and I feel proud of myself for the way I ate and exercised over the weekend. Sometimes they come with regret...

I worked out five days last week and ate according to my Weight Watchers plan. I was feeling so good about my body and had dropped 3 pounds. I really felt like I was getting somewhere! Then came the weekend and lots of good food. Let's just say that I ate WAY too much of that good food.

However... I certainly can't just give up the fight. So once again I will do what I can to live a healthy life this week. I just want to let that mindset carry over into the weekend. I'll let you know how that worked for me next Monday!

Made With Love

I didn't start posting to my blog until February, so I wanted to add a few memories from the first part of 2011. I plan to print this blog out at the end of the year, so I don't want to leave out some of these very special moments. Rocky and the girls made me a delicious chocolate cake for my 36 th birthday. We had to use an entire box of candles this year! Let's just say that there was a lot of smoke when the flames were blown out.

Two Is Better Than One

When Rocky is traveling for work it seems like Thursday evening is the time when I want to call and say (and have several times) " can you please jump on a plane and come home early?" Of course I know this isn't even a possibility. When he is teaching a week long class he is busy right up until the time he heads to the airport. I wouldn't really want him to be irresponsible.

When the girls were younger I was usually just exhausted by that point in the week. I have a lot of empathy for single parents who have to raise children all on their own. I don't really understand of course, because I know that I have a wonderful husband coming home to me at the end of the week. He does a great job of providing for our family and I always know that he is just a phone call away if I need some support.

Now that Gracie is 7 and Emmy is 3 the difficulty of the day to day things is much less. They can both feed themselves, go to the bathroom, dress themselves and just don't need the constant attention like they did when they were babies. I don't struggle as much with trying to keep up with dishes, laundry and the house, because I can do these things while they are upstairs playing together. Now the reason that I want Rocky home as soon as possible is not because I need a break, it is because I just plain miss his company.

A Library Visit

It was too cold to go to the park today, so we met at the Library for our morning playgroup. Emmy loves choosing her books!

The monitor on this computer wasn't even on at first, but Emmy and her friend Christina had lots of fun with the headphones and keyboard.

Emmy and her friend Susanna finding their letters on the keyboard.

The girls asked me to read them a story and they stood quietly and listened-- at least for a little while :)

So sweet...

Thankful

For some reason tonight I feel like putting some of my thoughts on "paper." I don't have a degree in writing nor have I written much of anything since my high school and college English papers. I just think it might be kind of enjoyable to write without the pressure of someone grading your paper.

Today turned into a really satisfying Sunday. When my alarm went off this morning I really didn't want to get out of bed. I lay there thinking about the list of things that would have to be accomplished before we left for our Sunday meeting and the potluck afterwards. Breakfast, picking out everyone's clothes, showers, combing hair, brushing teeth etc. and then the 40 minute drive to get there.

I was so tempted to roll over and go back to sleep, but then I thought about our two, sweet little girls. That would mean that they would miss playing with their friends. It would also leave me feeling guilty for the rest of the day, knowing that our family would have missed out on an opportunity to get encouragement for the week ahead. Luke had called last evening wondering if I would make Strawberry Pretzel Salad for the potluck, so I couldn't let him down now, could I?

We got to meeting about 5 minutes late and were sitting in the back of the room where I could look out and see everyone. It was then that a feeling of thankfulness washed over me. I am glad that God has put others that depend on me in my life. I am so prone to sabotage my own wellbeing for temporary ease and comfort. God seems to realize that I need others who count on me.