I think that I may not be doing a very good job with my kids when my daughter asks us (as we pull the Christmas tree down out of the garage) if we celebrated Hanukkah when we were kids. Mark and I both said no and then she says, 'we're not Jewish?' Hmmm.. guess we ought to get back to church! I laughed about that all day. Aubrey learned last week all about the celebration of Hanukkah. Who knows what it will be this week. Maybe Kwanzaa.
So our tree is up and decorations are out. Christmas shopping has begun and we'll visit Santa on Tuesday. I don't know if we will get Christmas cards out this year and frankly, I'm not stressing about it.
We celebrated Thanksgiving in Florida and that was so much fun. We saw the snow flurries during the Cowboy game as we lounged about by the pool and the kids swam. We thoroughly enjoyed visiting with ALL of Mark's family. There were probably 30 or so of us and that was just kids, grandkids and great-grandkids. It was nice to catch up with Mark's brothers and sisters and see our kids play with their cousins.
Our only drama has been Brody's incident with his teeth. He was wearing his Cowboy football helmet and was playing tackle with Mark in the den. He fell and the helmet jammed him in the chin and he knocked 3 teeth loose. We took him to the dentist and he said that they may tighten up on their own. So, we have to have soft food for 6 weeks and everything has to be cut up. Not easy. We are managing and he's being a good sport about what he can and cannot eat. While we are trying to be positive about it, we don't think that the teeth will make it. Who knows, but it's been 2 weeks and the teeth are still loose. We don't wiggle them or anything but he does complain about them from time to time.
On the other hand, Aubrey lost another tooth. It's been awhile so the tooth fairy was a little rusty. I'm glad that she mentioned the 'fairy dust' or the tooth fairy might have forgotten. In fact, thank the Lord that Brody woke up at 4 am with a bloody nose. The tooth fairy woke up on the bottom bunk of her son's twin bed in a panic crossing her fingers that we had a spare $1 bill hanging around the house. She has another tooth loose so we should be better prepared.
I took a yoga class from a well known yogi over the Thanksgiving holidays. He was teaching a special class in Florida just 15 minutes from the in-laws. That was so lucky and I was so happy that I was able to go. Here is the website: www.poweryoga.com
Mark took his first yoga class with me this morning. Even after staying out late having several beers with friends while watching college football. Even after having an overnight babysitter for the kids and we could have slept all morning. He really liked it and I think he will go back. I'll start teaching every other Saturday starting in 2 weeks so I think he will be one of my regular students. I'm really proud of him getting on the ball and getting in shape. He is the Biggest Loser! ;)

I knew it was Halloween yesterday when I turned on the Today show to see a Ross CHRISTMAS commercial. Good grief.

We had an enjoyable trick-or-treating this year starting at the Zemler's house. We've been the starting point for trick-or-treat for several years but relinquished the duties this year as our neighborhood kids are getting too old. The Zemler's neighborhood was abuzz with kids and parents walking around. Everyone knew everyone. We came home to our neighborhood and our kids had to wait their turn for candy behind 17 year olds. Holding hands with their girlfriend. Some of them weren't even wearing costumes.
The kids stopped at every house that they could. I liked that within 30 minutes of running from house to house my kids had stripped off a wig, 2 gloves (or glubs), a mask and a light sabre,
We stopped by Aubrey's teacher's house on the way home from the Zemlers. She sent home a note that she loves for her kids to stop by and see her and get a picture with them. I thought, how sweet! We walked up and Aubrey immediately says, 'Hi Mrs. Chaffin!' She doesn't really look up from whatever it was she was doing to say anything. Then she just drops something in Aubrey's bag and says, 'there you go!' Hello!? We are not some random trick-or-treater. Could you say Hi Aubrey or thanks for coming Aubrey or so glad to see you Aubrey or I love your costume Aubrey? Nothing. I finally asked Aubrey if she wanted me to get a picture of her with her teacher and she said Yes. So I snapped a shot and then she says, 'bye'. No Thanks for coming. No See you tomorrow! No nothing. Thank goodness it was dark so Aubrey couldn't see my furrowed brow and frowny face. That was SO not worth the effort. Aubrey talked about it the rest of the night like it was so great that we went. I couldn't really agree but didn't want to let on about it so my response for the remainder of the night was something like, 'mm-hmm'. I've griped about it all day and know that I've written it down, I think I can finally let it go!

Wow - time is really flying by! I seem to have less time than ever, but the time is spent doing what I love so it's been a great, albeit busy, month.

My kids seem to have grown a foot in the past month. Aubrey's first permanent tooth is just barely peeking in. I couldn't look at her enough when she lost her first top front tooth and I have loved the months of both front teeth being gone. But now when she smiles with that little sliver of white coming through, I fight back tears every time I look at her. Those big girl teeth will be in soon and she will forever be a big girl. She got her first grade pictures and I'm happy that we have a great picture of her gummy smile and lovely freckles on her nose. She is just a sweet sweet girl and though we have many discussions on the topic of ungratefulness, she is growing up to be a really sweet and caring girl. It's hard not to wrap my arms around this girl and protect her from the harshness of this world. She's so sensitive. She was trying to cut her pineapple up with her fork last night at dinner and was having trouble. Mark and I both were giving her a hard time about it and it took everything in me not to just scoop her up when I saw tears spring out of her eyes. She played it off by saying her eyes were just really watery today for some reason, but I connect with that sensitivity. She's giving her best at everything she does. Soccer is going really well and she's enjoying it. This is another place where she gives it all she's got. We only have 2 games left this season.
Last week was Red Ribbon Week at school or 'Don't Do Drugs' week. Stupid school. I cracked open a bottle of wine for me and some friends on Thursday and immediately she and Kendall commented on the fact that wine is a drug. So, I'm sure that they shared with their teachers about how their moms do drugs. Kendall even said to make sure that we don't have too much or we will get dizzy. That's when we shooed them out of the room so we could really concentrate on getting dizzy and not be bugged about it! :)

Brody is a constant crack up and a constant source of my irritation. We watched the movie Evan Almighty the other night and God (Morgan Freeman) said that when people pray for patience, are they just given patience or opportunities to have patience? So everyday I thank God for the opportunities that Brody provides in my life. We had a 4 minute meltdown in the car the other day over him buckling his seatbelt. And the great time we had fighting over what cereal to eat. How many times can you say, we just don't HAVE any Lucky Charms in the house. You know, fun times like that. Otherwise, he's in his Darth Vader costume running around with his light sabre and his glubs (gloves). I even have the Star Wars music downloaded and when the Star Wars theme is on, he says that is the music where Darth Vader dies and he will lay down on the ground completely still for the full 5 minutes and 44 seconds of music. (I try to get him to play this 'game' a lot!) Then when the Imperial March comes on, he's back up marching around. Hilarious. Hoping to get it on video for Halloween.

The business of yoga has been a little bit difficult lately. I always feel like I'm in the mode of looking for a job. I'm hoping some changes come about by the first of the year to make it a little better. But actually being in the studio and teaching is still awesome. I haven't been able to be a student much lately and I miss that, but hope to add that back soon.

Our 20 year high school reunion will be next summer. I wanted to make sure it wasn't going to suck, so I contacted our class officers just to check on plans. Not many plans being made yet, so I dumped myself smack in the middle of planning it. Of course. Actually I don't think there will me much that I actually have to do (famous last words, right?) and then if it does suck well at least I tried.

Mark headed to Austin first thing this morning for work. Another project gone awry that he needs to check on. His life is just fighting fire after fire. He thanks God every day as well for the opportunities to use patience. He has LOTS and LOTS of opportunities. In the midst of it all, he has found time to work out and is eating better. He's down almost 25 pounds and though he says he can't tell a difference, I can. He's doing great. We rewarded ourselves with the purchase of a new bed. We broke down and got a Tempurpedic memory foam mattress. Last night was the first night to sleep on it. I slept well, but it has a bit of a smell to it, so I've got the windows open this morning to air it out. I'll let you know in 30 days if we still like the bed.

I'm supposed to be at a meeting in 10 minutes but Brody is still asleep. Thank God for that! I appreciate the opportunity to just be able to sit and catch my breath and catch up on my life for a second. November will be just as crazy with lots of teaching, homework, soccer, birthday parties, and a week of in Florida to hang with Mark's family.

Yikes - I am so far behind on this blog!

Brody turned 4 on Tuesday. He had a little party at school and then we took him to Life's A Beach with the whole family. It was really nice. He loved being the center of attention! He got a bike from us and when it wobbled a bit from one training wheel to the other he freaked out and hasn't gotten back on since. So now it's just one more thing to kick out of the way when I get out of my car. He swears he will ride it when he is 6.

Saturday we celebrated with his friends at the park and the HV ambulance came up and gave all the kids a tour. It was totally cute when they put Brody on the gurney and then put him in the ambulance. A few kids got a little scared that they were going to take him away. They invited all the kids into the ambulance and the fun continued. The paramedic got out a needle and Clayton Hackler turned so white and had to get out of there immediately. It was hilarious. Brody got an EKG and they printed it out for me. Fortunately, he is healthy. I laughed with a few other moms if they would have said, 'ummm.. yeah....we are going to have to keep him with us' and then they just drive off with him. Anyway....I think the kids liked it.

Brody loved every gift that he got. He tried to sleep with most every gift at one time or another. Last night he was trying to sleep with this football guy and this enormous goal post so of course I told him no. One of his gifts from us was that we bunked his beds. So, since he was mad about not getting to sleep with the goal post, he starts kicking the rail of the top bunk. I warned him that he wouldn't get to sleep in his cool bed but would have to sleep on the floor if he kept kicking. So of course the little bugger kept kicking and ended up on the floor. When I went to check on him later, look at what was right by him. It was like a big ol' middle finger to mom.

Mark and I celebrated 20 years together on Wednesday. We got a night out on Saturday night to see Dave Matthews and stay at a hotel (Thanks Mom and Dad). We had a fantastic time and wrapped up on Sunday morning with breakfast at Cafe Brazil. It was a pretty good 20 hours away from it all.

I would blog on for more about my past weekend at a yoga conference. Lots of sweaty yoga, some chocolate and even some wine. However, I have noticed that it is 11:25 and I must get to bed. Oh wait........I've got to catch up on the book we are reading for our moms group tomorrow morning. Maybe if I just sleep next to it I will absorb the lesson.

Sometimes I read back over my blogs and think......hmmm..... life sounds so fun at my house. Won't you come and play? Why is it that I get so caught up in all the what-not and lose the joy in being home with my kids? And then I read my favorite blogger ever and I am reassured that my house is not so different. Enjoy!
http://wondertime.go.com/parent-to-parent/blogs/catherine-newman-blog/08272007.html

I hope I can wash off this bad karma before bed........
To whomever I have offended in the past 2 days, I offer a very sincere apology. On the surface, I really have no complaints. And the complaints I do have are so small in comparison to others complaints that I really have no business complaining. And yet I really really want to. It's 4:24 pm and I just sit wishing it was already bedtime. My not-so-comfy-unmade bed is beckoning behind me and I just want to crawl in and pretend I have a fluffy bed. But, we have soccer practice in an hour. And after that, the dreaded Wing Stop for dinner. I used to like wings. Then I stopped eating them for awhile. Then I had some again a few months later and though they were tasty at the time, I did not feel so well a few hours later. So bad that I made sure I remembered how I bad I felt so that I wouldn't make the same mistake again. Kind of like when you drink too much the night before and you vow not to do THAT again. This time I meant it. However, our great soccer coach hits this spot every Thursday and you are not so much a team player if you skip out. I'm all for not having to cook a meal, but fried chicken and french fries are not that tempting. I think my dinner will consist of carrot sticks and draft beer.

So what else is up that makes it seem as though the stars are lined up against me? Let's see......
I have a mom's group that decided to do 'Secret Pals'. I know other groups that do secret pals and it's all a little silly (Yes - I'm talking about YOU! ) But we decide that it will be so low key. No rules.........just a note or something nice that you can do to let someone know you are thinking of them........not a lot of money. Ok fine......The first girl I pick is brand new to the group, has a 3 year old, a 6 month old and her husband is divorcing her. Now she's living at home. Home is a house in Highland Shores with about a 1/2 mile driveway downhill to the front door. Hard to be a sneaky secret pal. I do what I can which is sadly not my best effort for someone who is going through a really difficult time. However, a much better effort than my secret pal that texted me a message on Valentines Day and then I never heard from her again.
So, we get new secret pals on Tuesday. I get one whose favorite magazine is Better Homes and Gardens. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but it's just not one of the..........I don't know........ top 40 magazines that I would pick. THEN, that very night she gets ambulanced to the hospital with a kidney stone. See how NONE of this should be about me, and yet it is? So we all should chip in and bring her dinner. I pick first because she's my secret pal. Now I have not only have to scramble for a quick 'secret' gift, but I also have to cook a meal on my non-cooking night. I decide against that and opt for the take and bake pizza place down the street. And it has been suggested by said secret pal that I bring dinner early before soccer practice. Bake your own pizza will be perfect. Yeah.......in case you were wondering about Nick and Willy's (this being the only time I have EVER gone there) the place is closed. (I wonder why?)
Now what? What other place offers family meals? URGGGHHHH...... $30 later I have a bag from Dickey's. These people are from Minnesota. Is there first choice Texas BBQ? Probably not. But that is what they got. At least she got homemade brownies. Out of a box. After being made by my 3 year old.
After finally getting home, I have to unload the uneaten snacks in the car from my way too picky kids. I end up spilling one drinkable yogurt in the car and dropping the other on the back porch door mat.
I call Mark to alert him to the status of my not so good mood and before I can, he lets me know all about his bad day at work. He'll be late.......meaning later than usual. Then tomorrow morning he's driving out of state for 3 days to see his nephew play football. Not that I am not all for that. But that statement translates to: Hey, guess what? You are on your own with the kids for the next 72 hours. Awesome!
So pardon me while I have my little pity party for myself. Sometimes you just have to, right?

AHHHhhh.....the sweet sweet sound of quiet........

Brody started preschool today. I have an hour and a half left before picking him up so I'm just savoring these last few moments of quiet. He goes twice a week to Trietsch plus gym day out on Wednesdays so I have 3 mornings a week again all to myself. I don't even care if I do chores the entire time. I am relishing the quiet.

I really admire the moms that home school but that is not for me and not for my kids. In fact, Aubrey brought home some schoolwork last week and I thought, 'hmmm.... should have worked on some of that handwriting over the summer'. Oh well. Too late now!

Brody was actually happy to go to school today. He missed Aubrey last week and I think that he really likes knowing that he goes to school too. We'll see. Thursday may be a whole 'nother animal.

I actually have pics to post of my sweet school kids so I thought I would do that before hopping off the computer to do something else in this quiet house. Did I tell you how quiet it is over here?

I'm about to go pick up my big first grader from her first day of school. She was SO excited to go back that she had that nervous/excited continuous talking going on all morning. Even on our way to school she said that she couldn't believe that she just couldn't stop talking. I told her to make sure she got it all out now because she'd have to quiet down in class! I'm sure getting up the extra hour and a half will start to show later in the week, but she bounced out of bed this morning and we were ready in record time. We are also going to experiment with her walking a bit more on her own. Last year I picked her up right at the crossing guard in the back of the school. This year, she can cross and then walk down to the end of the street. Just another physical reminder for me to let her do more and more on her own as she gets older. It's exciting, but I have missed her today. I am a total June Cleaver and just baked some chocolate chip cookies for her when she gets home. Wouldn't you love to see a picture of her on her first day. Yeah...would love to show you but it's on my 35 mm. Plus I have low memory on the computer so I probably won't even be able to upload the pic when it's put on a CD anyway. So, she looked cute in her new outfit and missing front teeth. I'm sure you can imagine it.

Was going to get on that new digital camera but decided to sell my couch and other family room furniture instead. So I have been on a couch shopping frenzy as it wasn't as easy as it seemed it would be at the time. Thought I'd have a couch delivered tomorrow but after shopping more stores than I care to count and then driving over to Stacy Furniture in Allen like a crazy person, we will have a couch sometime in October. Oh well......... That on top of having to get a new cell phone. That is another experience. But I did spend some time trying to find that right ring tone. I'm not so much a country music girl, but this Kenny Chesney song stuck out for me, so here are the words to my ringtone:


Well, I'm what I am and I'm what I'm not
And I'm sure happy with what I've got
I live to love and laugh alot
And that's all I need

port a 2007 me and kids

port a 2007 me and kids
Originally uploaded by kcorscad

New Pic from the beach trip

Random musings today.............
My friend Kris 'blog -tagged' me to make this list so I can't pass up writing about me! Here are the rules:
The Rules:
1. I have to post these rules before I give you the facts.
2. Each player starts with 8 random facts/habits about themselves.
3. People who are tagged need to write their own blog (about their 8 things) and post these rules.
4. At the end of your blog, you need to choose 8 people to get tagged and list their names.
5. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

Here we go:

1. I don't like opening packaged biscuit cans. I will wake up someone in the house (if I can) before opening it myself. Ask Jen - she just experienced it with pizza dough.
2. I'd much rather have an extra glass of wine at dinner than a dessert. Any dessert except for maybe Key Lime Pie, depends on how I'm feeling that day.
3. Most of the time, my idea of clean is a 'once over'. I'm not that freaky about germs.
4. I don't like it when my sheets are not tucked in at the bottom of my mattress. It's too much of a mess if you are not tucked in at night.
5. I read the paper every day and always read the obituaries. Some people have some really good stories and led some interesting lives. My mom reads them too so sometimes we have conversations about people we don't even know!
6. Sometimes I dream that all my teeth fall out.
7. I secretly want a dog. I can bring home many things without my husband knowing but I can't figure out how to get a dog in the house. Plus, I have to build a fence so don't drop any strays on my porch yet!
8. I have been known to play on Webkinz by myself.

There you go. I only know one other person who blogs so you are it Valarrie! Have fun! Can't wait to see what you write.

As for us, we went to Port Aransas for a few days with the family. The water was warm and the kids loved it. It was pretty relaxing but a wise friend once said that you must call your vacation only a vacation when it's you and your husband, otherwise it is a family trip. Because you are really just taking your same show on the road. There are always meals to plan, snacks to have and bathroom trips to make. The one plus we had this year was that we didn't have to have naps so the day was ours. We got a little too much sun one day, but other than that, we had a great time. Plus I love any time that I can hang out with my extended family. We always just wish it could be longer. I would post a pic, but apparently I'm so low on memory that my computer can hardly run. So I need to take some pictures off before adding some more. And we all know I have SO much time for that.

Other than that, I'm just trying to figure out how to raise an almost 4 year old boy without losing my mind. It's been a difficult couple of weeks topped off with him killing his sister's fish. That did me in and after I lost my mind, I went back to what I always do, find a parenting book to read. Working on getting through one of James Dobson's books called Raising Boys. Has some pretty interesting stuff on it although I don't really agree with all of it so I'm trying not to cast all the info. aside. Mainly I have refused to argue with him about anything and everything. Last week one day started with us arguing about what day it was. Our interaction at breakfast pretty much sets the tone for the day. So we are looking forward to school starting and getting a break from each other. We've got 1 week left with Aubrey and Brody has 2 weeks. I guess we'll have to start getting up earlier next week to prepare! We have really enjoyed sleeping in. That has been my favorite part of summer.

My kids were in Austin most of last week, so I got to experience 4 full days of doing whatever I wanted. What a treat! I was totally booked with stuff to do and only had a little 'downtime' but I'm learning that is how I prefer it. I'm not good with nothing to do. Mark and I saw 'Knocked Up' which was so so funny. We met friends for dinner one night and went to the Ranger game on Friday night. I also saw 'Hairspray' with some girlfriends on Thursday night. Highly highly recommend it. It was sensational. Not so much for kids though.......a lot like Grease. I spent the day working on scrapbooks (a client's...not mine, darn it.....still stuck in mid-2004 with my own album), taking yoga classes, getting some sun, running errands and interviewing for a new job! I'm taking my yoga skills to an actual studio starting this weekend. I'm so excited to move over to a more professional place. I've got one more 'audition' this week at Lifetime Fitness to hopefully teach an 'intro to yoga' series in their yoga studio on Saturdays. That would be cool if that comes to fruition. So, all is going well.
Thoroughly enjoyed my 'vacation' but by Friday night I was ready to have my kids back. The Ranger game was actually kind of boring with no one needing food or water or to go to the bathroom 100 times. I found myself really fidgety.
The kids had SO much fun in Austin. They went to Brenham to the Blue Bell Ice Creamery. They are celebrating their 100th year so they had a big FREE festival last week. The kids got more ice cream than they could stand plus an array of temporary tattoos and all kinds of what not goodies. They enjoyed their cousins more than anything and we have heard SEVERAL times how they miss their Madi and Cami. Thank goodness we will see them again in a week when we go to Port Aransas for our yearly beach vacation.
With the kids being home for just 2 days, I have realized that it will be nice when school starts. There has been way too much whining and bickering. I had assumed I would have gained lots of patience after a 4 day break but it seemed to be quite the opposite. I've really had to work on my resolve since they have been home. A school schedule would be really nice right now. In fact, Brody asked me to peel the skin off of his apple slices today at lunch and to also cut off some of the core that had remained. I cut off the skin but I guess I forgot about the core, because he handed it back to me and said through clenched teeth, "MOOOOOMMMMMMMM..... you FORGOT this PART........GGRRRRR..... mommy you are really working my patience." Yeah........I know.

I had to clean out the garage yesterday morning so I left the kids to entertain themselves. Aubrey thought it would be fun to bob for apples in this big red bucket, but that fun didn't last long. So, she decided to have an 'apple stand'. This girl has asked to have a lemonade stand for about 2 years and I always say no. It just seems like such a hassle and it's hot and it's just not for me. So when she mentioned the apple stand I so wanted to say no, but I said whatever instead. Not really the resounding YES what a GREAT idea, but just whatever. That was all she needed. She made a sign to tape on the kids picnic table and I did help her push it down to the end of the driveway. For about 20 minutes, she and Brody were hawking the apples, 'apples for 25 cents........apples 25 cents'. After that time and no customers, Aubrey left Brody to 'man the stand' and she went inside to grab cups of water. She thought those that bought an apple could get a cup of water for free. After about 5 more minutes of no customers, she thought she'd throw in the 'buy an apple, get a tennis ball for free'. A few more minutes go by so she decided that she'd make some flyers to put on the neighbors doors to tell them about the apple stand. I don't think I have ever seen her work so hard printing out some notes. She put them on the doors and I think even rang a few doorbells. I was mortified, but you know, that's what kids do! Our next door neighbor needed some clarification as to exactly which way her house was so she pointed the way. Later he did come buy to pay for his apple and tennis ball (which were so conveniently placed in a Target bag and left at his doorstep!). He and I noticed that Aubrey had left him a 'Hansel and Gretel walkway' by leaving rocks from our flower beds on the sidewalk leading the way from his doorstep to the apple stand. Hilarious. I am still laughing about it.

I took a picture of her and will hopefully post it once I get it developed. I know.......picture to go along with the story would be great but I'm still living in a 35 mm world. Someday soon I will have a good digital. Soon.

Why I love this 'small' town!

I have lived in Highland Village for a long time. Long long time. We were excited when we got a Tom Thumb in Lewisville and now that strip center is referred to as 'the Old Tom Thumb'. No matter where you are on Main Street, you will come into contact with 'the Old Tom Thumb'. I think it has been the Old Tom Thumb for about 15 years now. Now there is all kinds of construction over here. We will have our own movie theater, our own Snuffer's, our own Lululemon (athletic clothes that have no business being priced this way). And yet, there are still little hints of 'small - towness' around. Take yesterday for example.
Brody wants to have his birthday party at the Fire Station. Well, I want him to have his party there, but my little hints have led him to believe that he thought of it. So instead of just calling, we drove over there. It really is right down the street.
We walked in and were greeted by one of the firemen and his admin. She said hello and started giving me the low down on how they do b-day parties. They come to you! And it's FREE! So we will either have a fire truck and ambulance in front of our house or down the street at the park. That will be cool.
So we got all the particulars down and they gave the kids plastic fire hats and some stickers. Then, one of the guys took us on a tour of the whole fire station. The kids got to climb up in the ambulance and the fire truck. They got to try on the fireman helmet and big ginormous coat. It was totally cool. I just walked out of there so happy with where I live.

Big heavy sigh......I lost my computer the other day. I first started to blast Al Gore for turning me 'green'. See I turned my surge protectors off the other day as opposed to just turning off the computer in the hopes that I was saving the planet by some small increment to offset all the idiots out there driving Hummers (oh sorry, didn't mean to offend if you drive a Hummer, oh wait....yeah I did). When I turned them back on the next morning everything turned back on except the computer. So, $130 and another 10 days from now, I may be back up and running normally. Right now, I thank Jen for letting me commandeer her laptop for a few days so I don't feel completely disconnected from the world. I don't blame Al Gore anymore and I still promise to post pictures of our local landfill in Lewisville so maybe it would at least prompt you to recycle. I keep saying I will get a new camera, but the computer thing has thrown off all the priorities. It is paralyzing to be without a computer. Need a phone number? Where do you look? I don't even own a yellow pages anymore. Need directions? Need to talk to someone? I have cauliflower ear from the phone being up to my head the past few days. I can't wait to get my computer back.
I was going to post a few days ago about how we have been the busiest family that I know, but now I've already forgotten what we've been up to. Nothing important but this summer is going by quickly and that is what is important. From what I remember there has been some swimming (finally), Ratatouille (funny!), yoga, family yoga with Aubrey -she loves it!, hanging out with friends, Ranger game, fireworks and Vacation Bible School. Next week my kids go to Austin for a couple of days. WOO HOO! Just 3 nights of not having to battle the 3 year old with teeth brushing and pj's will be sheer heaven. Glad someone else gets to deal with that. I get to go see Hairspray and Mark and I are going to another Ranger game.

In other news, I saw the most amazing sight today. Aubrey and I were trying to get on 35 to go south this afternoon to head to the dentist but there seemed to be all this traffic as I approached 35 from 407. I briefly saw a black limo and hearse heading north on 35 and then tons and tons and TONS of cop cars, motorcycle cops, ambulances all driving with their flashing lights on. I have no idea how many cars were in this motorcade but it was endless. They had shut down 35 north for this funeral procession (which we later found out was for a Plano officer that died last week. His funeral was at Prestonwood Baptist and the processional went from there 70 miles north to his hometown of Boyd.) As we were driving on the frontage road and came up to Valley Ridge exit, I could see several fire trucks on the bridge with their ladders extended. The bridge was closed to traffic and was filled from end to end with police cars, fire trucks and motorcycles. It gave you chills to see the hospitality shown to a fellow officer. But THEN, we crossed under the bridge and on the other side of the vehicles was a line of police officers, firemen and other officials standing on the bridge watching the motorcade. An American flag flew from the top of one of the ladders and on top of one of the fire trucks was an officer playing the bagpipes. We had to pull over and get out of our car. Several other people did the same and we were all lined up on the service road by Home Depot to watch. It was truly amazing and I was so happy that we came upon it by utter chance. I wish I had a camera so I could have taken a picture.

Funny comments..........
I had to post some funny things that I've heard the past few days.

The first one is my son's. For breakfast yesterday morning I held out 3 different spoons: a blue one, a yellow one and a green one. I told him to choose which one he wanted for his cereal. He took several moments quietly pointing from one to the next to the next. Finally he points to the blue one and says, 'this one...... this one is moe'. I guess the eeny, meeny, miney part was all in his head.

My sister was in a hotel room in Abilene with her family hurriedly getting ready for a wedding when they discovered that the bathroom door was locked. Their little girl Cami had locked it accidentally (alledgedly). Her husband Tom was completely exasperated and when their daughter Madi offered up finding a paper clip to unlock the door, Tom exclaims something or other about pulling a paper clip out of his butt. This sent Cami into hysterics and later she pretended to pull something from between her legs and told everyone, 'hey look, I found a paper clip in my butt!'

I went to get my hair colored yesterday and my hairstylist and I were talking about different concerts since she and some friends had gone to see John Mayer. So I mentioned that my friend was going to see The Police tonight. She was like, 'oh...what do they sing again'? Seriously?

Wow - I thought things would slow down after school let out, but we are busier than ever! I don't even know where to start, but I will try to just give the basics. Because as my sister (and several other family members) can attest, I can drag out a story. It's just that I want you to know every detail. I want you to feel as if you were there.
Mark and I had a nice date night the other night. Mom and Dad kept the kids and we spent the night in a hotel, saw a movie and ate at a yummy restaurant (Fireside Pies). It was a nice 'happy yoga teaching graduation - mother's day - father's day' all rolled into 24 hours. We really enjoyed it.
And then, I just have to mention........the RAIN..........my God the Rain! I thought we would swim every day this summer until someone cried at the mere thought of putting on a swimsuit and sunscreen (or Skunskreen, however you prefer to say it). But it has rained so much that we've hardly gone through half a bottle of skunskreen. My sister's kids stayed with us for a couple of days and what we thought was going to be a weekend of splashing and spraying turned into a weekend of sitting around watching more SpongeBob than I care to admit. In fact, the thrill of the 4 day visit was waking them all up one night at 2:00 in the morning to camp out in Mark's closet because we had a tornado warning. That was fun. There was some crying, some coughing, some almost throwing up, some time out of the closet to pee and get drinks of water, and more pillows and blankets. And that was just 30 minutes of fun!
We drove back to Austin last Tuesday and the rain followed us down there so we got in about 1 1/2 hours of swimming in 3 days. Apparently this Tuesdays chance of rain is 100% so yet again I'm going to have to dig deep into my creativity to figure out what to do this week. At least Aubrey will go to Vacation Bible School. I'll just have to figure out what to do with Brody.
My yoga classes are going fine. I'm still not good with the business end of things. I'd rather just teach my classes and let someone else do that part for me. Maybe someday. I start teaching a Family Yoga class this Tuesday. I'm so excited but so nervous. I should be putting something together for that but I guess I will do it tomorrow. As for me, I took an amazing yoga class on Friday night that pushed my limits further than I have been pushed in a long time. I'm hurting today for sure!
Tomorrow we will have new shutters delivered for our front windows of the house and new blinds for the kitchen windows. I can hardly stand it. Slowly but surely we are updating this house. It's a nice 'we've been in this house 3 years' present.
And what else? Oh yeah.......my parents are moving! They have been in their house for 31 years and decided they didn't need the big ol' yard and a pool so they found another house in Lake Dallas. Their house was on the market for 5 minutes and they have a contract on it. I think they are worried that we 3 girls are really upset they are moving out of the house we grew up in. And it will be sad to see it go and weird to visit them in a new house, but I'm always about change being good. My word.......Mark and I have lived in 2 apartments and 3 houses since we've been married and we've stayed in the same area! Looks like they will be moving pretty quickly so we'll have to get in as much swimming as we can. You know......when ever it is not raining.

Should I even be writing this or saying it outloud? The funeral was very frustrating for me................My Aunt Gilda passed away this week. She has had lupus for several years and therefore more and more health problems as she has gotten older. The past several weeks have been extremely hard on the family as she was in the hospital on a ventilator (after having a tracheotomy) and we hoped that she would be able to be weaned from it, but sadly that was not the case. The family has had a heart wrenching week and my mom and dad were able to be there when she died on Tuesday morning.
One of the interesting things about having kids is how vividly life just goes on. I got the news after picking Aubrey up for soccer camp so I pretty much felt like I had to 'stuff a sock' in my sadness and take them swimming as promised. Hard to grieve at that time. Ok, so I assured myself that the time will come at the funeral to just feel the sadness. Funeral was this morning so Mark and I arranged for sitters to keep the kids and we got up before dawn to drive in to Texarkana. Upon arriving at the church, I see my cousins and my uncle together without her, and I see and feel the tremendous loss. They have had several days of mourning and were holding themselves together very well. I felt like I should do the same. We were all ushered into the church and the service began.
And I have to tell you that I felt a little gypped by it all. The preachers briefly (and I mean ever so briefly) touched on her life but spent the majority of the time preaching. Preaching like it was Sunday morning. Preaching to those that may not have found Jesus yet and this would be the perfect time for them to acknowledge Christ in their lives.
What about my Aunt? What about remembering what a great lady she was in spite of her illness? The sparkle in her eye that was always there. She handmade all of her daughters twirling outfits (and if you have ever seen those, you know how sparkly and fancy those are). She played the organ and the piano in the church. She organized the family reunions so that they could all see how the cousins have grown and had children of their own. She and her husband used to travel all the time to Branson Missouri. She was a redhead and full of spunk and I loved to hear her laugh. She was so giving and so sweet..........We didn't see her all that often but I loved it when I did. She and her husband Jerry.
We didn't get to hear any of it. So I just sat there honestly growing more and more detached. The only time I was brought back was to hear my uncle Jerry say Amen. He said it with a deep and resounding voice. It makes me smile. I know the family heard exactly what they wanted to hear and I hope they were comforted by that.
So even though that is probably not the proper reaction to have, it is what it is. And it gave me the chance to write about her and remember her like I wanted to. I just wish I could have heard others share their memories as well.

I do have to add what I did like about yesterday. The music that Gilda picked out was nice. Josh Grobin does me in every time. Also, the people from church had a spread laid out for us afterwards that can only be done in the South. Casseroles, fried chicken, okra, corn, rolls and tons of desserts. Walking up to get something to drink, the cups were labeled 'sweet', 'unsweet' and 'water'. Of course there was all the yummy iced tea you could drink. That was the best.

Yes - it really is me..........I'm back on the blog. May was about the craziest month on record since ever, I think. Finished yoga training, family in town for high school graduation, Aubrey's birthday that lasted about a week, end of school activities and I can't even remember what else. Tonight is the first time that I feel like I can sit and breathe and it feels really odd. Like shouldn't I be reading something or writing something or doing something? I'm having a hard time just sitting so after spending about 1/2 an hour on the phone with my sister, I thought I'd update my blog.

I started teaching yoga today. Of course, 99% of the students are my friends so THANKS Friends for employing me! I think the first class went well. Tomorrow will be interesting as I have 5 people scheduled for tomorrow night and 3 of them are guys! I'm also hoping to teach some kids and family classes up at Excite. Just waiting to find out if people enroll.

I also have a scrapbook to work on. This lady saw the sign on the back of my car and emailed me. We met over the weekend and I'm doing a book for her son's tour with the Marines in Afghanistan in 2001. That should be totally interesting to work on.

Other than that, it's summer and I'm not sure what to do with my kids everyday! We haven't had this much day to day contact in a long time. Aubrey will be in a soccer camp every morning this week and poor Brody can't do much since most places have activities for ages 4 and up. They will at least have gym day out on Wednesdays. And since hopefully the rain has moved out (the gullywashers as my dad says - and he also says commode for the toilet. Do you know anyone else that says that?) I guess we will be swimming as much as we can stand it.

As you can see Aubrey lost her first front tooth this month too. I wasn't home (AGAIN) when her tooth came out. Apparently she just pulled it herself. I almost cried when I saw her! The other front tooth is barely hanging on and when that comes out she'll be a totally different kid. She's growing up so much. Life is getting so much simpler and more enjoyable with these kids every day. Now, we just have different issues. Instead of temper tantrums and the sheer exhaustion of keeping up with a toddler, now we have talking back and 2 kids that can get along so well one minute and then pick pick pick at each other the next. Funny how you step in that they start going 90 to nothing on how it was the other person's fault.

May was also a month where we were able to catch up with old friends. Our friend Jen Murphy was in town for a wedding so we had a blast hanging out with her and other friends that night. We reminised a bit on our junior prom that was now 20 years ago. Yikes!

Our friends Kevin and Shelle Butschek were also in town at the same time and it has been awhile since we had seen them. So, we've had our share of fun times too.

The big deal this month was the high school graduations. Jonathan and Emily graduated from Marcus and our niece Danyel graduated from LHS. So we hosted both families for a fajita night on Sat. night of Memorial Day weekend. Yes - Mark and I sat through TWO full high school graduations. But it was worth it. We are so proud of these guys and what great kids they are.

I'm playing hooky from yoga class today. Please don't tell anyone. I'm just trying to reconnect with the rest of my life. You know fun stuff like laundry and errands. Plus, I took a class on Sunday and our teacher said that we might 'meet' our hips for the first time. In fact, she told us that she will never forget the first time she was introduced to her hips. It happened in Tennessee. Apparently you never forget it. So, yesterday I was slightly complaining about my obliques from a completely different class and was feeling a bit grumpy about it and even rewarded myself with some mint chocolate chip ice cream. And then..... it happened. I woke up about 3:00 this morning and my hips screamed at me "HELLO!" and they haven't stopped talking since. My sweet husband even massaged them at 3:30 this morning but they won't shut up. So one of my errands today is to buy some epsom salt and I may be soaking in a tub before noon. I don't know how you explain a soreness that is somehow good yet nauseating.

In other news, Aubrey's class is presenting the school announcements each morning. She said the Texas pledge yesterday (The pledge, by the way, makes me laugh because it is a complete and lazy rip-off of the American pledge. In case you don't know it, here it is in it's entirety: Honor the Texas flag; I pledge allegiance to thee, Texas, one and indivisible.) She will do the American pledge on Friday. I was the only dorky mom up at school to watch her. She had me stay in her classroom so I could watch them on 'tv'. It was precious. Kindergarten has flown by and I can't believe she will soon be a first grader. Though, those of you that have kids this age or past this age, what is up with them? She's always falling down and running into stuff. It's like she has no control of her body. She's silly but not in a really funny way so I find myself forcing laughter to amuse her sometimes. Do they grow out of this?
She has her birthday party on Saturday. We are taking the kids bowling. That should be a riot. Brody went with me to buy her birthday present yesterday and within 5 minutes of picking her up from school, he told her what she was getting. Nice. We popped for a kids digital camera and a Webkinz. Had to get that one off ebay as that seems to be the latest craze for kids. It's the only thing she has asked for, so thank goodness for ebay. Now we'll see if she likes the one we got her.
Brody is totally into dressing himself these days. Yesterday he wore last year's light blue plaid linen shorts with his red Wiggles t-shirt, brown tennis shoes, no socks and a baseball cap on backwards. Today was a plain blue shirt with plain blue shorts (not in a matching way ) and flip flops. I bite my tongue everyday because at least he can pick out his own clothes. His sister would prefer that I pick out her clothes everyday. My kids are backwards.

What day is it? I don't even know. I decided to post because I thought I'd let you know that I'm still here, but each day flys by faster than the other. My darling daughter will be 6 years old soon and that is just crazy! She's invited her friends to go bowling so I think that will be a fun sight to see! She only wanted to invite one boy and 8 girls but I told her that she had to invite at least one other boy to her class so he wouldn't feel left out. We'll see who can make it. It makes me laugh that there seems to be this one boy in each of her classes that she can't get enough of. Caisson (the boy this year) drew her a picture of a rainbow so it's now posted in her room.
We hosted our couple's group tonight. I was wondering if we should stay with the group because we haven't attended in a few months and we for sure haven't kept up with the book. But, I have to say that it was really nice getting together and having a discussion with other couples. It made me look forward to next month. I'm sure I will dread it up until we walk into the hosting couple's house but then we'll be glad we came! My favorite part of getting ready was when I was moving all the furniture in the den to better facilitate the discussion and make more room for people. I turned on some music as I was getting ready mainly so I could calm down from all the frantic last minute cleaning. Aubrey walks in and says, 'I'm so glad that you moved the furniture out so that you can make room for everyone to dance!' I like her style of party planning! She then noticed that the music was pretty mellow so she said that I better put on some rock and roll music for everyone to dance to because otherwise they were going to go to sleep!
I also learned this week that I am denying my kids some of the basics of life. We went to Linda's house for Easter dinner and she made some Pillsbury crescent rolls. You would have thought Aubrey had died and gone to heaven. She could not get over this bread she was eating and said that we HAD to get some of those at the store. So we picked some up on Monday and when she walked in the door from school that afternoon she went straight to the fridge to show Kendall these rolls she was talking about. Kendall was like, 'yeah....I've had those about a million times'. Poor Aubrey missing out on things like that!
As far as yoga, I've been teaching my cousin Sarah and some of the teachers at her school. I think it is going pretty well! I haven't felt too overwhelmed and I think they like it. Still trying to plan what I will do this summer. And hopefully whatever I do will lead me into the fall. Everything has been going so great it is just really really busy. We meet again the very next weekend since we were off for Easter. So, I've got to write 2 papers between now and then, teach my class on Thurs. assist my teacher on Wed. and try to take 3 classes of my own. We've also got my girls monthly dinner, the kindergarten trip to the zoo, 2 birthday parties, soccer practice, a soccer game, swim lessons and a meeting with our investment guy. I'm also leading my moms group in a discussion of the current chapter of the Love and Logic book so I guess I better get on that! Phew. I'm tired just typing that. So, I will turn in for the night to get ready for this week!
Namaste!

I wouldn't even know where to start to try to catch up on where we have been the past month. It has been a complete whirlwind for me. I'm still trying to learn that I can't be everywhere that I want to be and be involved in everything I want to be involved in. I was excited to join this couple's group as we read a book on family and marriage because I felt like it would be nice for Mark and I to have something that we could do together and spark conversation. We realized recently that in September we will be together for 20 years. Wow. That stopped us in our tracks for a bit. So, thought it would be nice to discuss our marriage and kind of reconnect on that. Yeah.......haven't been in 2 months. My mom's group is reading Love and Logic. Definitely need to re-read that and discuss with other moms my ups and downs with my wonderful yet all too irritating 3 year old son. Um... don't think I've read past the 2nd chapter. But, I have been keeping up with all my yoga stuff and it is intense. We have finished the really intense lecture and information gathering stage - the stuff I could spit out to you about your spine and your muscles and your bones. We are now in the active yoga posture stage of assisting each other in poses - finding out what works to help make people comfortable and what works to help people go further in a pose. It's totally fun. I probably will not post again for another 2 months after I complete it all! It just so happens that all the tv shows are reruns and Mark is on the phone with a supplier from China. Plus with his help this weeknd, the laundry is caught up and the groceries were bought.

So, we are still alive and kicking. I'm taking 3 -4 yoga classes a week and now I will be assisting my teacher in her classes once a week. Mark is heading to Denver on Wed. with some suppliers. He totally won't be skiing but I don't doubt that he will still have a good time. We'll also be busy with soccer practices and soccer games. Plus I'm offering a free 6 week workshop to my cousin Sarah and some of the teachers at her school starting on Thursday - yikes! Then, it will be time to find a job before I lose all this immense knowledge I have gained. The kids are totally getting into the yoga thing. Aubrey has taken a few kids classes up at the studio and loves it. I had to do some stuff on my own last week since it was spring break so here is a pic of my kids doing yoga with me.

I'll try to keep up with the blog and at least keep posting funny stuff about my kids. The only story that is worth sharing is the one that happened today - more fish drama. If you've read my blog this year, we have had some fish drama with the first fish dying and then another fish dying and I replaced it before Aubrey got home. She never knew but that fish also died and we buried it in the backyard next to the first fish. It was less dramatic than the first, but still more than I can take since we've only had a fish tank since Christmas. We believe the first fish died because Brody and Parker decided to dump the fish food in the fish tank. So these boys know that the fish is off limits. Usually I lock the door to Aubrey's room because I don't trust them. Brody is quite the little show off for his friend when they are here. Today I forgot about locking the door. I was watching Planet Earth with Aubrey, Kendall and Jen. (Which is a totally cool Discovery HD show if you haven't seen it.) Suddenly, it hit me that I knew exactly where the boys were. Sure enough the door to Aubrey's room was shut and locked. I banged on it to let me in and of course saw that the top of the fish tank was open and water was all over the dresser. Luckily the food wasn't touched so it just looked like a water mess to clean up. I just sent the boys to Brody's room and decided to clean it myself. I went to get a towel and came back to mop up. As I was about to set the towel on the dresser, I see the fish staring up at me - OUT OF THE TANK - YIKES! I dumped it back in the tank and just sat there saying, 'please swim...please swim......' So far so good. Thankfully Aubrey was so enthralled with the tv show that she never even knew what was going on. Ugh that boy..............I need to go read my book.

Kids.........kids...........kids..........
I've been wanting to blog about how the kids seem so grown lately. Maybe I did already blog about it, but I can't remember anything these days, so bear with me. We went to Target and both kids went potty.........because you always have to go potty when you go to Target.......and both kids walked into a stall, took care of business, washed their hands and dried them off. I just stood there and watched with awe. I didn't have to pull up any pants, lift anyone to the sink, shimmy under a stall and unlock it. I just stood there. If I would have known, I could have read a quick 3 pages of a book! We got dressed for the gym on Saturday morning and both kids got completely dressed all by themselves........shoes and all! Amazing. I'm definitely not a mom that is heartsick for the baby days! I love independence!
but then...........the boy...................brother............Jen and I were thinking that when the girls were younger they tended to find ways to entertain themselves that were not always appropriate but I guess that since they are older and don't require us to supervise and 'play' and entertain them anymore, we have gotten a little spoiled. So when we get the boys together we just figure they will be happy to play together with toys. Last week, they took a cup of water and refilled it many times in the bathroom to then go dump it on the carpet of Brody's room. Friday they decided to take a shower in my shower........PRETENDING....as Brody always says and Brody comes out of the shower to tell me something and his face and hands are covered in blood.........yes... blood.... real blood.........he thought he would shave like Daddy with the REAL razor and knicked his lip so that it poured blood forever. I almost took a break from cleaning it up to take picture so I could ask you if you would freak out if your kid came up to you looking like that. Today he and Parker took baby lotion and poured it all over Parker's dresser, the floor and his bed. That really nice creamy thick lotion that doesn't want to rub in your skin. Imagine it sitting on top of your carpet. Plus the fact that when they are together, they pee in their pants about 3 times a day. It's enough to send you back to work full time. We are hoping it's a phase and they will learn how to make appropriate choices but in the mean time it is all I can do not to smack his butt 100 times a day for this kind of crap! Why can't they just play? I'm sure all the parenting gurus out there will say that they need some attention from us. But it's not like we were sitting around reading US magazine with a cracked open bottle of wine. We were trying to clean a house!
So other than the nightmare of having a growing boy in the house, Mark bought Aubrey another fish to make up for the first one that died. At 2:00 on Friday, I notice that it has now died. I had 45 minutes before I had to pick up Aubrey at school so I made the panicked decision to flush the dead one and get a new one at PetSmart before picking her up from school. I couldn't take the drama again. I had some fears that the previous one was going to surface in the toilet at some point this weekend, but I think we are in the clear. Hopefully this new 26 cent pet will last a little longer.

Yoga classes are coming up again this weekend. Mark is already dreading what kind of drama will be in store for him. I'm supposed to be doing research for a paper that is due on Friday but I just realized that it is 10:30 and I haven't started yet. I woke up at 4 am since I've gotten used to waking up at this ungodly time due to above named son who needs a potty break and a cuddle at this time every night for weeks. Last night I woke up first and couldn't get back to sleep. I drifted off about 4:30 and felt someone tap my shoulder. When I rolled over, no one was there. And that freaked me out. So, I was up for the rest of the night. And mind you, my son NEVER woke up this one night. I'm turning in now with the promise that I will do my research tomorrow. Of course, I could always be back tomorrow blogging about how Parker and Brody set something on fire.

2 weeks have flown by!
I don't even know if I can try to catch up with all that has been going on. Things have been flowing pretty smoothly around here though there is something constantly going on. Off the top of my head:

1. Aubrey is feeling better. That Tamiflu had her feeling better in 2 days and she was back at school. No one else in the family got it (knocking on wood while typing).
2. I have been spending any free time reading, writing papers, meditating, taking yoga classes.
3. We actually enjoyed some spring time weather for a few days and that was such a treat.
4. Soccer practice has started up again for Aubrey. Games start in a couple of weeks. It was about 40 degrees outside for practice on Thurs. night and I sat there and wondered why we aren't doing something like dance or gymnastics that is INDOORS!
5. Mark has been busy at work as usual and had a trade show to attend this week. He's BMOC there. Can you picture him waving and smiling and shaking hands with everyone? The man knows everyone and they all love him.
6. Annual Daddy/Daughter valentine dance is this afternoon. There was much drama earlier in the week because the dance they usually attend was sold out so Jen and I had to scramble around for an alternative. Hopefully this one works out ok for them.

The other major news is that for my 2nd Friday night to be away at training, Mark had another crisis to deal with. You know last week was Brody throwing up at Chili's and Aubrey coming down with the flu. While the kids were getting ready for bed last night, Aubrey went to feed her fish and one had died. Mark said she was handling it all very well at first. She got a cup and scooped out the fish and brought it to the bathroom where he was helping Brody brush his teeth. Mark asked her if she wanted to flush it and she just broke down and was sobbing. So, Mom of the year was out with her friends after training and missed her cell phone ring 4 times from home. Finally, I check my phone to see I have a message and it's from Aubrey. I go outside the restaurant and I'm just heartbroken to hear, 'Hi Mom....it's Aubrey.....ummm... my fish.......died.........I didn't really want it to die.' I didn't even hear the rest. So, I call Mark and he says that she's so distraught and doesn't know what to do that they just left the dead fish on the counter in the bathroom because she wants me to help her decide what to do. Mark and I decided we will just follow her lead on this and not over do it and offer to buy another one. We'll just see what she says. She woke up this morning and of course that's the first thing she tells me and I tell her that I'm so sad for her that her fish died. And the next thing out of her mouth is that she is so excited about the Daddy/Daughter dance. So, it's almost 9:00 and we haven't discussed the fish again.

Other than that, I have lots of 'hot' topics that I would love to discuss. Hope to blog in more detail later but I'll just leave you with this for you to mull over and hopefully you'll comment on my next post.

• Have you heard of The Secret? I learned about it at lunch with a friend on Wed. and then it was on Oprah on Thursday afternoon.
• I watched Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth this past weekend. Very interesting. I've also been keeping up with all of the newspaper articles about global warming. I might have to get on my environmental soapbox soon.
• What do you think about Perry passing the executive order on the HPV? That's been a hot topic around here in the past week. I'm sure we have LOTS of opinions on that.
• I think the media contributed to Anna Nicole Smith's death. What a mess.

UPDATE: Right after I posted the blog, Aubrey asked where her fish was. So, I followed her to the bathroom and we got the cup. I asked her if she wanted to flush it and she said no. I asked her if she wanted to bury it in the backyard and she said ok. She asked if we could put a cross where we buried it. So, awesome Daddy made a cross out of some popsicle sticks and tape and we went outside. I dug the hole and Aubrey dumped the fish in there. As we covered it up, we said goodbye fish. You were a good fish, Dorothy. We know fish don't live very long but we were happy you lived with us while you did. We will miss you. I really think Aubrey wanted to cry but she had a very brave face. Then she went back to watching Over the Hedge. Mark sang a little of Amazing Grace as we went inside just for the 2 of us.

How do I even begin to tell you about my weekend? Let's start with what was going on at home. Friday night I was gone from 4-8 so Jen was nice enough to keep my kids until Mark got home from work. I was home by 8:15, but no one else was so I called Mark on his cell and no one answered. 5 minutes later he called back to say that he couldn't quite get to the phone because Brody happened to be throwing up in the Chili's parking lot. When he got home, Brody was just in a really strange state. Like his eyes were all googly and he was talking ALOT, he just seemed completely over stimulated. He was apparently in rare form at Jen's that afternoon so it was apparent that he just needed to get to bed. We quieted him down and chalked it up to just too much going on that afternoon.
At midnight Aubrey appeared in our room crying and saying that she wanted someone to sleep with her. We initially figured a nightmare, but when I snuggled up in bed with her, she was shivering. Uh oh........not good. She was throwing up at 2 am and I had to pass her off to her dad an hour later so I could get some sleep. She was up again at 4 am and was restless the rest of the night with fever. The doctor affirmed that it was the flu the next morning and we were all put on Tamiflu. She was miserable that morning and it was awful having to just turn her over to her dad and leave for the afternoon. Not that I don't think Mark can do a good job, but isn't it my job to comfort my sick baby? She has slept a lot the past 2 days and is actually in good spirits today. No fever at all and she should be good to head back to school today. I got a call from the school because they wanted her official diagnosis. Apparently, 10 kids were out in her class today. That is half the class. I have certainly learned that we will get the flu shot next year. I hope the rest of us are out of the woods. Only time will tell.
What a great start to this training. But, as my instructor pointed out, we are getting the crappy part out of the way early. The next weekend will probably seem like a breeze for them.

As for the training.........aaaahhh.... I LOVE IT! And I really like the girls that are in the training with me. There are 9 of us and we have such diverse backgrounds that has brought us all together. We are learning a lot about the history of yoga and even had a workshop on meditation. I have never meditated before so this was all new to me. It seems all so mysterious and 'weird' until you just learn what it is and what it is for. It's very easily applicable to your life and with a good daily practice you can handle just about anything that life throws at you. Our goal is to meditate 10 minutes a day working up to 20. I slept in this morning and didn't do it, so I will do it tonight before you go to bed. In a really bad nutshell, you are made from your Creator (in my case God) and you are not separate from him. Every human being has the innate need to be close to God and meditation is one way to be still and allow that closeness to come. The teacher was very careful not to name the 'creator' since the practice of meditation is open to all faiths but she did reference God in her personal stories and even quoted a Catholic saint in her presentation. I almost hugged her. Not to get into a long story, but that interaction just seemd another confirmation that the path I am taking is the one laid out for me. You hear a lot about people trying to live their authentic life and the past 3 days has assured me that I am on my way.
The best part of the weekend was taking a field trip downtown to a 2 hour workshop. It was Yoga and Chocolate. Could life be any better? The class was HARD and I am feeling it today. But, the guy was awesome, played awesome music (the class started with Willie Nelson's Crazy) and we ate the most exotic chocolate. We had chocolate and wasabi and chocolate and curry. It was FANTASTIC. Here is the link: http://www.yeahdaveyoga.com/index_yoganchocolate.php
I wish I could tell you everything I learned this weekend, but it was a TON of stuff. So, until my class meets again, I've got 3 books to read, 6-8 classes to attend, 1 class to observe, a movie to watch and 2 papers to write. So this spring will FLY by. I will keep you updated as I go through the training. I might even call on you for some 'classes'. If I could afford the chocolate, I'd rip off the class I went to yesterday and try to replay it for you. But, you will probably just have to have a regular old class, but I will try to throw some good music in with it.

First of all, I can't even believe that I have logged on and am updating this blog 5 minutes before I have to go get Brody from school. I have tried to update for several days (because I'm sure you have been waiting with baited breath for an update!) but something is up with this blogsite. Whatever for now. Don't have time to think about whether I will move somewhere else. For now, this is home and I'll update when I can.
Have spent the last few weeks cleaning out the house. I've cleaned out old cd's and sold them, cleaned out all my Creative Memories stuff and have sold it on ebay today, and have also just cleaned out a bunch of miscellaneous junk in the prospect of having a garage sale in a month or so. Not that I love having garage sales, but just trying to come up with any extra ways to earn some $$. Since I've already cashed in all my extra change, I'm about out of $$ ideas. It's also been nice to just feel like the house is organized and clean. My yoga training starts tomorrow (Yikes, again!) so I wanted to feel like the house is in order before I take my flying leap towards a new life plan for me. I'm ready.
I'm off to pick up Brody and sign him up for swim lessons. He already told me that he doesn't want to swim. Which is really nothing new since just this morning from 8:15 - 8:45 I also heard him say, I don't want to brush my teeth, I don't want to go to bed, I don't like dinner, I don't want to go to school, I don't want to put my shoes on, I don't want to go potty, I don't want to walk. I'd continue but you get the idea.
After a couple of errands, we'll pick Aubrey up from school. She informed us that she has a crush on Caisson because he's a nice boy and says nice things to her like 'you're pretty, you're nice'. Her friend Maddie also has a crush on him. We went to his birthday party on Sunday and they were both giggly because they gave him a hug good-bye after the party was over. Caisson was also the one that made fun of her fuzzy coat so she never wears it anymore. I guess I'll sell it in the garage sale.

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU!
It's taken me so long to post. I won't even go into what we've been up to in the New Year because it's really not all that interesting. I did try to post the other day and the system crashed so I gave up.
Now that we've been home for 3 days straight, I've found some time to update. I've actually enjoyed the past several days at home. I left the house on Sat. to go to yoga class and run to the library and I've been home since. I've even watched some movies that I've been wanting to see - Click, Devil Wears Prada and The Last Kiss. My house is clean. My laundry is caught up. Clean sheets are on the bed. The dishes are clean. AAHHH.... Love it. I also worked on my scrapbook, we have played tons of games and done some crafts and yesterday we stayed in our pj's all day. Though I think my head might explode if I play another game of Slapjack (or as Brody refers to it, "Pat a J") and my kids are watching way more tv today than yesterday. Mark went back to work today so it's back to the grind. Since we are home for the MLK holiday, I made the kids watch part of his speech on YouTube. I don't think they really cared, but we will do it every year so we know why we celebrate this holiday. I do know that as of 2:30 pm today I'm not sure that I could be stuck inside for another day. So, I am looking forward to bundling them up and taking them to school tomorrow. Plus tonight is my girls monthly dinner and I'm looking forward to eating some cheddar fries at Snuffer's! Yum.

Speaking of food though, here is my one New Years resolution:

I resolve to reduce the amount of partially hydrogenated oils and high fructose corn syrup in my diet. I have to say 'reduce' instead of eliminate because these 2 ingredients are in just about everything I eat right now. Plus, I can't get rid of Dr Pepper all together. Now, it's just 1 a week instead of 1 a day. I've changed to half and half for my coffee instead of creamer. Probably more calories, but I'll just have to burn that off. I've cut out chips and crackers except for Sun Chips. More fruit and more salads. Not every day is a great day but I am trying to be mindful what I eat. Tuna for lunch so I can eat those cheddar fries guilt-free - the only way to eat them!

I didn't make any other resolutions. I plan to take more yoga classes but that will be a given when my teacher training starts in less than 2 weeks. Yikes. Very nervous to get to that first weekend and see who is taking the training with me. I was encouraged over the weekend when I met a girl who just completed her training and had never taught before in her life before taking the classes. Her class was great and she was very encouraging to me so I'm not quite as apprehensive as I was before.

Other than than, I'm even reading a new book. It's called the Four Agreements. A friend recommended it to me, and it's really interesting. A little bit of it is a little New Agey/Deepak Chopraish on how you learn what you learn as a child. But, basically someone teaches you something - a mom, a dad, a sister, a brother, a priest, a minister, a teacher and if you agree with it, then it becomes an agreement that you have with the world. So, the author says that there are 4 agreements that you should live your live by and you will live the most fulfilling life. The Agreements are:

1. Use impeccable words. Words can be uplifting or they can be poison to another person. Speak with integrity and say only what you mean. Basically, if you speak poison, such as gossip, you invite poison into your life.
2. Don't take anything personally. You are the star of your own movie that you write and that you direct. Everyone else is the star of their own movie. Nothing others do is because of you.
3. Don't make assumptions. Don't be afraid to ask questions to clarify with others.
4. Always do your best. And your best may change from day to day. But, you have that Judge in your head that wants to make you feel guilty or place blame. If you simply do your best in everything you do, you can avoid the guilt and regret.

I haven't completely finished the book, but I find it very interesting. The 4 Agreements seem simple but I think you can find that any given situation finds you not saying what you mean, assuming about others or taking things personally. I'm interested to be more mindful in going about my day which one of these agreements I'm not doing. What about you?