Have You Zumba?

So I get this email from one of these moms clubs that I am a part of to join them for a Ladies Night Out at a dance fitness studio. It sounded interesting and I went to the site to check it out. I much prefer dance class or dancing as a form of exercise so the name of the studio is what intrigued me the most. While on the site I notice that they have Zumba. If you have never Zumba it is a Latin infused workout dance routine and so right up my ally. Hard to believe but true that just a mere 2 1/2 years ago I was Latin style dancing two to three times a week. I love it! I decide to try the class the very next day which was yesterday.

I am in the studio and it reminds me of all those years of going to ballet, tap, and jazz. Wall to wall mirrors so you can't miss yourself flapping fat across the room....not fun now. The music starts and I think this is going to be such fun since I even know the music. Perfect! I zumba, I modified zumba, and I am zumba sore. Everything hurts and I realize how ridiculously out of shape I am. I am going back today too. While it hurts now, I just know this is the type of workout that I can commit to. On a side note, Emily did great at the daycare and even had her morning ritual poop there too. Sorry ladies.

Weekend Update!

This weekend was my niece's birthday, Haleigh. I am forever misspelling her name or thinking that I am misspelling her name. Anyhoo, she turned 7 on Saturday and my brother and sister in law had a family dinner last night. Aside from containing three active kids and two babies to the living room and trying to explain to my husband that they are not going to sit on the couch with their hands folded nicely in their lap, it was a good time. Haleigh about hyperventilated when my parents bought her the new Disney Ariel princess movie. My ol' Hannah Montana doll was a mere yeah! Emily did great until she tried to crawl into the kitchen where their dog, Sugar, was kenneled. Sugar barked at Emily who in turned fell to pieces crying. I took her outside to walk around and brought her back in the house. She was still doing the sniffy cry snorting thing and while I was feeding her dinner she saw Sugar and freaked again. Could this mean that she will be afraid of dogs like her mother? Hmmm....either way I hate for her to be afraid of dogs but not so upset that now there is a shot of never owning a dog...sorry dog fans but I do not want a dog or any other pet...I already have two, Jonathan and Jake. They are like animals with their mess and loud, rowdy play. :) Yeah, I just compared them to dogs...well actually puppies...they are the hyper ones. Her are some pics from yesterday. The last ones are of Emily's pig tails....LOVE IT!

Happy Birthday Emily!

Well it has come and gone and I was rather emotional about it. The week leading up to her birthday, which was a week ago today, I was emotional and teary. I guess after having the boys I just know how fast it goes and feel like my year with her truely started at 9 months when I started staying home with her. She is an amazing baby and really pretty easy to care for...so far. I love her too much! Her birthday was filled with my emotions and cupcakes and presents. Emily had a cupcake on her birthday and loved it. She devoured it. She opened her present which was bigger than herself. We bought her the Fisher Price Laugh and Learn House. She loves it. There is so much to do with it that it really does contain her. On Sunday we had a party for her at the pool. It turned out fantastic. My husband was really involved in conversations and I had to remind him to get pictures. We got a lot of great gifts and had a good time. Emily destroyed her cake. I had a feeling after the cupcake on her birthday that she would. She stuck her hands out while I was trying to put it on her highchair tray. She ate cake like an olympian. She was shoving fist fulls into her mouth. At one point I thought she was just mashing it around the tray, but when I got her out there was not enough cake in her bib, tray, or floor. She ate too much, even out of the folds of her arm. She went straight to the pool shower and I could feel her stomach gurgle. My girl who doesn't eat sweet treats was on overload. At least it was her party. Too much fun and now *gasp* she is a toddler. Well as long as I'm living my baby she'll be. :)

Emily walking

The whirlwind has begun!

So school started two weeks ago and my life has just been spinning. Let me take a moment to update you on all the events of the past two weeks.

School is going well. Jake started a new school and socially he has adjusted beautifully. Almost too well. The first week Jake got 3 circles for not controlling his talking. He ended up in the Reflection Room instead of recess on Friday to reflect on his behavior. The next week nothing! May be the stern conversation we had prior to school that morning and every morning this past week. I know he is my social silly boy but there is a time and place for that. He has made some friends in class, the reason for the circles, and has already been invited to sleep over at a classmate's house. He has been playing football three nights a week and is slowly fitting into the team. It is hard when the team has been playing for two years together. Last night we scrimaged with the team he used to be on for the past two years. It was great to see the boys, the coaches, and parents. Some of those boys were in my kindergarten class three years ago. They still hug me too. :) Jake starts religoius ed in two weeks so we will have more places to be.

Jonathan started school too and is doing well. He still seems unaware of a lot of stuff but I have been teaching him in the afternoon and he is much smarter than he even knows. I mean if only he worked to his potiental! I can't believe he is going to be 15 in April. I got my learner's permit at 15 and there is NO WAY that he will.

Here is our weekly schedule
M school, football 6:30-8:30, religous ed 6:15-7:30
T school, football 6:30-8:30
W school, religious ed 6:30-7:45
Th school, football 6:30-8:30
F school, nothing. Whew!
S football game
S Errands and start all over again!

At some point we are adding in a sport for Jonathan( not sure if it will be karate, swimming, or fencing) Actually it wont be fencing at $250 a month not happening now.

Then there is baby Emily. Ahhh...little Emily. Two weeks shy of turning one she is learning to be mobile. She took her first steps this week. Check out the dark video. You can see her in her glory. Since taking those steps she has done it maybe five more times. She isn't very interested in it. We try to get her to do it but she collapses her legs. Fine with me...I don't want her to walk until she is two. She is very attached to me. She is a silly little girl and is learning to hold up 1 finger when I ask how old she is going to be. Here are some pictures of her making faces for the camera. She has started making faces instead of smiling. So silly.







Gus is busy working and providing. He is such a hard worker and then wants to be lazy and hang out when he is home. I forver have a list of projects and it just keeps getting longer and longer. I need a handyman. He has recently taught a student from his hometown and we have invited them to Emily's party. It will be nice for him to have a friend that can relate and appreciate where he has come from and how much he has done. We have been very tired lately. Addiction to the Olympics will wipe you out. We have been staying up past midnight to see all the big events. This has been an amazing Olympics.

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

So today is the 1st day of school! Normally I would be energized for this day as I would be receiving students in my own class, but not today! Today is technically the first true day of being home as a sahm. Jake loves today. Every year he is exciting to start and to see his room, teacher, and go to lunch. This year is different. He is going to a new school. He didn't give me any trouble. He woke up, picked out his clothes, ate, got ready, and was ready to roll out 10 minutes before it was time to go. Let me set the stage. The bus parks ONE house down from our house until it is time to go to the first stop. I decided to walk him to the stop that is up a hill and probably a 2-3 minute walk,no biggie. I get there, Jake sees his friend that is going on to middle school, and then the bus arrives! Jake jumps on board with little less than "bye mom" (I guess he was excited!) and I ask the driver if I could send Jake to the bus by our house and the driver said, "no". I am thinking, huh? Why not? I would imagine that when it rains this would be more convenient. I wouldn't have to drag Emily out unnecessarily. Seems ridiculous. i guess I have to go through transportation at the county. :| Jonathan officially starts school tomorrow and i start teaching literature at home in the afternoon. Lord help me...seriously help me! Add to the mix football practice every night this week and coordinating enrichment classes for Jake's school...this week is going to be busy! Whew! I'll keep you posted on the 1st day of school and how it went.

This weekend was keep close to home. We hung out at home most of the weekend. How could we leave the Olympics were on! I am frustrated with the schedule and that there is just a general schedule and not a time frame of events. Grrr! The DVR has helped a lot. We fast forward to the events that we want to see. Phelps! Holy cow! Did anyone else see the too close for words smack down against France! Awesome! Anyhoo... Saturday I got sucked into Target...my little heaven and went out to eat at a local pizzeria. Sunday we hung out all day until around 4. We ran a ridiculous number of errands in a 2 hour window. We went to the bank, Sears, Target(for a return, I ALWAYS have a return), BabiesRUs for a sad :( return (Emily's jogging stroller that I have had for 2 months was messed up as the front wheel was not swiveling correctly) but I did buy a new light weight stroller, and then off to dinner. We went to a Chinese restaurant and OMG barf! First, the name Dynastic China. Huh? Dynastic? Is that a word? They had a buffet...mistake 2. I don't really like buffets unless it is a soup, salad, pasta buffet. (Hmmm Sweet Tomatoes yummy!) They offered NY strip steak we ordered two. It was not NY strip unless that is suppose to be flat like a pancake. I am thinking it was a skirt or flank steak, maybe sliced dog j/k. Regardless that was nasty too! And finally the sign. Ah, yes the sign. Take what you eat and eat what you take. Crack me up, seriously this is a sign in the restaurant. I will say never again! Ever! Got home,Gus assembled the stroller, and Emily and I did a test ride. We took a stroll through the neighborhood and it drives nicely! A little more Olympic watching and off to bed. Uneventful but nice weekend. And that is the recap!

Emily's park playdate and Jonathan returns!

On Friday my best girlfriends from college and their babies met us at the park for a play date. Erica is too cute and already 5 months pregnant! Caleb is like a cherub and was so excited to give high fives! Ian is a doll. Just 3 weeks younger than Emily, Dixie and I have paired these two up in marriage. Ian reminds me of Jonathan in that he is always smiling and such the silly baby. I LOVE his grin! Truly you could eat him up with a spoon he is a doll! Emily enjoyed swinging and going to lunch with her little boyfriend. They had a little chat at the table and were SO well behaved! They should be. We have been meeting up and taking these little babies to lunch since they were less than a month old. I love my friends and their babies. We are so excited for Erica's little boy to come this December. I am waiting for the news that Dixie will be next. If the next ones are anything like their first then they will be doubly blessed!

Here are a few pictures and more to come. I can't seem to find my cable for the camera but when I do I will post new pics.





Jonathan came home from a month and a half trip to his dad's house. It was good to see him even with his overgrown hair! Aside from needing a haircut, he is taller and broader! We spent the day with his dad and brother Jake shopping for school clothes. The boys loved it! I felt bad for the boys as I can truly see how much they want time with their dad. Unfortunately it just doesn't happen enough.

Jonathan definitely is different. Whatever routines his father instilled are helping him be more self reliant and responsible. Ok, it has only been 1 day but we are going to stick with it. We are glad to have him back! :) We went to the pool in the afternoon minus their dad who went back to North Carolina. We also took Jonathan out to eat at his request to O'Charleys. He is sick of Chickfilet! Can't say I blame him.

Also, my husband deserves applause for handling the whole "family shopping trip". I know how hard it must have been for him and I know how hard it would be for me if it were reversed. Overall, he did well! :)