"Gimma a kiss"

Little A was outside the other day and I heard him say "Mama, gimma a kiss." I turned around and this is what I saw. How could I resist?

Officially Miserable

Yes, I'm miserable. Every year my allergies get worse and this year is no different. I love Spring but I hate the allergies that go with it. My head feels like it's going to exploded. This is not going to help my running this week. We are now 5 weeks into our 10 week training. Some runs are great and other runs I feel like I'm running for the very first time. When you're running 4 days a week, I guess there's not enough time for your body to recover.

Running on Empty

I don't know what's wrong with me this week but the running hasn't gone well. It just don't understand how one day I can run 9 miles with no problem and then a few days later I struggle with 3. It's very frustrating. Hopefully our Sat. run will go better.

I've concocted this "super juice" that I've been trying to drink at least a few times a week. I have no idea if there are any benefits to it. I haven't felt any different. But if nothing more it's healthy and filling. I'll do this in place of breakfast or as a mid morning snack. So I take fresh squeezed orange juice from Grandpa's trees, 2 large hand fulls of fresh spinach, a half a banana, 2 tbl of flax seeds, some ice and put it in my Vita-Mix for about 30 sec. It's actually pretty good. I think my kids would have tried it if they didn't actually see me make it. My hubby is a good sport, he'll drink it. Maybe I could try pulling it off on St. Patrick's Day! Oh, I've made a mistake with the granola recipe, so if you copied it before today you'll need to make a slight adjustment. Sorry, I was going from memory and I should really know better than to do that!

Princess A 's b-day went well. It was very low-key. She had 2 friends spend the night and they had a great time. She got her 7th Webkinz! I'll post pics of them later. On Sunday, Liv sang in church. She sang with 2 other women. They each sang a verse. She did a great job!

Glimpses of Hope

Today when I came home from taking Gman to seminary, Princess was awake. I was surprised she was awake already and coming downstairs. (I really thought the first day back to school would be difficult.) She says to me, "I already made my bed and said my prayers and I'm going down stairs to empty the dishwasher." I about fell over!! Maybe my nagging is not in vain after all. Either that or she's just kissing up because tomorrow's her birthday! Oh well, I'll take it!!

Vacation over

I am always so happy when the kids go off track, however, I am even more excited when they go back to school. I can't believe 5 weeks have already come and gone. Tomorrow the kids go back to school. Yes, you read that correctly, they go back to school on a Friday. I don't know who thought of that bright idea but that's the way it is. So back they go. So what kinds of fabulous things did we accomplish? Not much. We did do a little laundry training and I did try to organize the kids bedrooms. Which in itself is a never ending job. So I guess that's why I don't feel like I finished anything. Naively, I thought I would get lots done but the truth of the matter is I didn't. I just have to keep reminding myself that it's ok. Not everything can be perfect at one time and sometimes nothing is. Why is it so wrong to expect your children to keep their rooms clean now and again? I'm learning that sometimes I just have to lower my expectations to prevent me from becoming a raging lunatic. Hubby came home from Science camp and said (after spending 5 days with 200+ 6th graders) "we really do have good kids." I guess that's the answer. So you choose your battles wisely and hope that at some point in time your children will remember some of what you've taught them and will use it when needed. Here's hoping!

This week

This week Papa and Liv were away at Science camp for a 6th grade field trip. Every year the 6th graders get to go to Science camp for a week. They got back yesterday. It's funny how the dynamics of a family can change when people are missing. For some reason, it just seemed less hectic. It seemed I was able to be a little more organized and things seemed to stay cleaner longer. Definitely not as much laundry! Oh well. Back to reality. They had a great time.

At home, we had a beautiful week, weather-wise. I'm sure we hit 70 at least one or two days. I was able to get our garden boxes weeded. (mostly) Hopefully we will start planting soon. The little ones and I spent a lot of time outside. Spring is definitely in the air. The air is so fragrant. I love it. As long as my allergies don't act up! I know my pictures aren't very good but you get the idea. At least I remembered to bring my camera along!

Our first week of training went well. It's perfect running weather. Today we did 8 miles. My joints are a bit sore. I think I need new shoes.