Starting the New Year off right...Hopefully. :)

I've decided on my New Years Resolution.

1. Exercise. I have too much fluff around the edges. Yes, I have had 3 kids close together, but that's no excuse now. :) We have a family membership at the Y and everybody really seems to be enjoying going there. I hope we can keep the membership because it seems to be a really good fit for us in that it gives the kids a chance to play with other children, while giving me the chance to get some physical exercise for myself and "free" time too. I've enjoyed taking one class at a time to see what class I want to get into and how often. So far I have tried pilates, yoga, cardio dance, and basic step. I still want to try the cycling, bosu/strength, Body Sculpt, and Buns & Abs classes. I thought I wanted to try the stability class, but it turns out that there is nobody under the age of like 70, and its mostly men. Not that I mind them, but I think there are other classes that fit my needs.

I've also tried doing 60 minutes of aerobic exercise in the fitness center. I went with Tom last night and worked for the entire hour on the machines he usually uses in the morning - and boy are my legs hurting now. :) I'm pretty excited about everything though.

2. Get Organized. I've created a schedule based partially on the MOTH (Managers of Their Homes - get it at Titus2.com) handbook and partially on the FlyLady (www.flylady.net) thing. Combining the two should help me get my act together so I can learn how to keep my house looking great - right? Once I get my schedule figured out I'll try to post it. I'm pretty excited about it because I've got it in my google calendar and with chrome, I can have a link to my calendar to know what I'm supposed to be doing right now instead of playing on the computer. :) Wish me luck in my endeavors! :)

Chore Packs

List of places that have great pictures of chore ideas for my kids. :)

Chore Packs

Trip out West

Can I just say our God is awesome? We left on our trip out west late friday morning, April 10. We had planned on spending the afternoon at Tom's aunt & uncle's house before catching our flight out of Nashville. About 30 minutes into our drive, Becky decided she needed to use the bathroom. Being that we were trying to potty-train her and she almost NEVER asks, I asked Tom to go ahead and stop at the next area so she could go. Tom hates stopping when we're trying to get somewhere fast, but since he was on the phone, and I insisted since we were potty-training, we stopped. After taking Becky potty, we continued down the road. We started getting into some really nasty weather - it had been overcast all day, but by the time we got near Murfreesboro, it was really bad. So bad that I started looking at the sky and thinking to myself, "Wow, that cloud sure looks tornado-ish." Before I could say anything to Tom, we both saw the cloud sweep across the interstate, a couple miles away. We didn't realize how close we were to it, until it took about 5-10 minutes to reach the area where the Tornado had just hit. That was just about the same length of time that Becky used to go to the potty - a request she did not make for the entire rest of the trip. I am so thankful our God watches over us - even when we least expect it.

So the second awesome thing God did for us on our trip was when we visited Arches National Park. We decided to check out another unpaved road of the park that looked like it might be interesting to see. We saw a sign that said "High rise 4-wheel drive only" and decided that since we had 4-wheel drive, we'd try it, not really knowing what High-rise would qualify as. We got a little ways down the road when we discovered it meant big rocks in the road and we had to turn around. So we did and went to see another part of the unpaved road that didn't require 4-wheel drive. When we arrived, we couldn't see the arch because it was still at least a mile and a half hike to the overlook and we had 3 fussy/sleepy kids. Again, we turned around and drove back out. About 1/2 way back on the dirt road, I again decided to do something out of the ordinary - I asked Tom to stop the car so I could get out and take a picture of the mountains ahead. When I got out to take a picture - I heard a soft hissing sound. I stopped to listen and it sounded like it was coming from the tire - and sure enough it was. Tom got out to start fixing the tire and "surprise, surprise" didn't want me to try to get some help. Men! :) I was pretty upset, so I started praying that I'd calm down to be a help to him. Around that time, another vehicle pulled up - remember we are in the middle of the dessert on a dirt road - and asked if we needed help. Tom said we just had a flat and should be ok - and the man AGAIN offered to help, saying that he owned an auto repair shop for about 30 years and would be happy to offer assistance. How can you turn down a God-send like that? Those two people were so friendly and helpful - the man helped Tom unload the car to get to the car jack that was underneath the kids car seats and his wife helped me entertain the kids while the two guys changed the tire. I am so glad to be serving a God who cares about the little things too!

Funny Becky

Becky has some bathtub rubber duckies that look like reindeer. She calls them her "Rainbow Duckies" :)

Becky the copycat

Becky has discovered the joys of talking on the phone and now follows me around the house talking on her phone as I am talking on the phone. It's pretty cute to watch her chatter away on her phone as I'm talking on mine. Sometimes she comes up to me with her phone and covers it and says, "Shh, Mommy, I'm on the phone!"

Tommy and his football helmet

Today I told Tommy to take his pj's off and put on his clothes. After about the 10th time of telling him to get dressed, I ignored what he was saying...something about a helmet...and told him I didn't care what he did, so long as he got dressed right then. I went to check on him to make sure he was following directions and discovered what he was asking. He had put on his football helmet and nothing else. He was very proud and said, "Look mommy, I got my football helmet on!" It was very hard not to laugh while telling him that he needed to get dressed first, and THEN, he could wear the helmet.

Another great Tommy saying

Today Tommy found some play money on the floor. He held it up and said, "Mommy I found money for the basket!" He wanted to find a basket so he could put the money into it like we do at church every week. :)